Bruce Springsteen talks about America and offers surprise at ‘Deliver’ NYC premiere

A movie and a song with a message.

That’s what attendees at the New York premiere of the Bruce Springsteen biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” received Sept. 28 at the New York Film Festival in Lincoln Center.

A song from Springsteen himself after the screening, which drew an enthusiastic response from the festival audience who watched the unconventional music drama with rapt attention. The film deals largely with Springsteen’s relationship with his late father, Douglas Springsteen, played by British actor Stephen Graham.

Springsteen thanked Graham “for being a living monument of my late father, who had a difficult life but was a good-hearted man.”

Bruce Springsteen performs Sept. 28 during the “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” screening at the 63rd New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York.

Springsteen joined film stars Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffman, Graham and Matthew Pellicano on stage at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

Springsteen then grabbed his ‘weapon of choice,” a guitar, to perform “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

“These days we have daily events reminding us of the fact that we’re living through these particularly dangerous times,” Springsteen said. “I spent my life on the road, moving around the world as kind of a musical ambassador for America, you know, trying to measure the distance between American reality, where we’ve often fallen short of our ideals, and the America ideal.

“I’ve seen that America, as battered as she feels right now. But for a lot of folks out there, she continues to be a land of hope and dreams, not of fear or divisiveness or government censorship or hatred. That America is worth fighting for.”

“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” directed by Scott Cooper, is centered on the making of the Boss’ 1982 lo-fi classic “Nebraska” album.

It’s based on the book “Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska” by musician Warren Zanes.

(L-R) Bruce Springsteen, Scott Cooper, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong attend the “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” screening during the 63rd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on September 28, 2025 in New York City.

Portions of the film were shot in Freehold and Asbury Park, the waterfront of which glows like a bejeweled keepsake box in the movie.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” hits theaters on Friday, Oct. 24.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen performs at Deliver Me premiere, NYFF