When the Malibu fires of 2025 forced filmmaker and director Tamra Davis to evacuate from her home, she grabbed what she could and got the hell out. Left behind and discovered only when she returned was a handful of tapes sitting in a smoked-out garage; containing footage she had filmed whilst at Australia’s Summersault music festival.
The rest is a documentary – titled The Best Summer that debuted at the Sydney Film Festival in Australia; a free-fall into ‘90s nostalgia when she was on the road with her then husband Mike D’s band the Beastie Boys and hanging backstage with friends Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill fame and Kim Gordon’s Sonic Youth in very candid happy moments that dials up nostalgia to 11.
“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought the fires would cross the Pacific Coast Highway, it hadn’t happened before and then it did,” says Tamra Davis.
“We were fine, but in that moment of tragedy when you have to look at your life and think what do I take in an emergency, what do you grab and go?” she says. “We were lucky we survived, and nothing got more than smoke damage, but that’s when I came back home I came across these old tapes and the process for this documentary started to unravel,” says Davis.
The Best Summer is a pastiche of the Hi8 camcorder footage which sees Davis follow a star-studded ‘90s alternative rock tour that took place in Australia. All of the moments captured she filmed while backstage; it’s like an extended video clip of sorts, capturing a moment in time when punk broke into the mainstream, and alt-rock festivals drew the coolest line-ups.
The tapes survived for 30 years; and their eventual discovery has stirred all the feels for those of us who were there; those who wished they were, and gives us an insight into what happened behind the main stages.
“The first thing I had to buy the vintage camera again,” explains Davis. “Then I started looking through the tapes. I always knew I had Beastie Boys and Bikini kill footage, but I was like, wait a minute, I have Dave Grohl and Foo Friends footage that I didn’t remember shooting. I didn’t remember doing any of those interviews, it was quite surreal. I ended up showing it to John Silva who manages five of the bands in the documentary and I asked if I could do it – yep, secure the music of the most impossible bands in the world, but he assured me that we could do it – at least to try and we did,” she says.
A year ago, Davis was busy editing the documentary; which she has since showed at Sundance, Tribeca Film Festival and SXSW. The Best Summer will get a commercial release in Australia via Madman Films but first it’s the Melbourne Film Festival in August.
Rediscovering the old footage allowed Davis to acknowledge how much simpler life was in the ‘90s.
“I instantly felt the connection between the audience and the artist – it was the era of not having phones, people smiling and reaching out, and the audience there to totally experience the moment,” she says.
“You see people take their phones out and film nowadays and wonder when will they watch that again? It’s nice to be present and just watch the show,” she adds.
Davis brings a female gaze to the documentary; one that’s kind, warm and feel-good.
“I felt I had a unique and different story to tell, and nobody had really done anything like this. It was a unique perspective I bring,” she reflects.
She’s been life-long friends with Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna, having included her in a short film she made called No Alternative Girls in 1994. She also cast her in a Sonic Youth video clip she made called Bull In The Heather in the same year.
“I was a big fan of Bikini Kill, and when they got added to the Summersault tour, we were all obsessed with them. Kathleen was the one who suggested I film her being interviewed. She had watched some dudes being interviewed at the festival and was like, we could do so much better than that – and she’s like let’s make a documentary,” says Davis.
Davis and Hanna have remained close friends. Kathleen is married to the Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz; hence why their lives blended from the personal to the music stages.
“They’ve been married for 30 years – and Adam was like my brother for so long. Kathleen actually met Adam in Australia in 1995 on that tour – so much great stuff happened,” says Davis.
The filmmaker is also known for her film Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child and Billy Madison, but it’s The Best Summer that serves an archive we’re all aching for in 2026. Her tour-diary style also features Thurston Moore, Kim Deal, Beck and Dave Grohl.
The tour was awkwardly marked by sadness, as Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain died in April 1994. “We were all very close to Kurt and Nirvana. Sonic Youth had just toured with them and they were supposed to be on the Summersault bill,” says Davis.
“Promoter Pav put the line-up together. We were also trying to recover from an incredible loss, and in that moment on that tour, we found a way to support each other. We were surrounded by friends and created this positive energy – the best we could do in such terrible circumstances,” she says.
Growing up in Hollywood, Davis wanted to be an actress, but went to film school to pursue her dream aged 19. The mother of two [her sons are in a band with their dad – Mike D – who has started Mike D 5D with Skyler and Davis Diamond – and set to release their debut album Thank-you on August 28].
“I lived and grew up in Hollywood and thought being an actress is what girls do,” she reflects. “And then there was definitely a specific moment where I realised that no, I don’t want to be an actress, I really want to be behind the camera. I started studying film, watching other directors and went to film school at 19 and everything shifted,” she says,
She’s also behind more than 150 music video clips from Hanson’s MMMBop, Sonic Youth’s 100% and Tone Loc’s Wild Thing to make a few.
The Best Summer will be showing at the Melbourne Film Festival.
https://miff.com.au/program/film/the-best-summer
