Cloudburst (2011 film)

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Directed byThom Fitzgerald
Screenplay byThom Fitzgerald
Based onCloudburst
by Thom Fitzgerald
Produced by
  • Thom Fitzgerald
  • Doug Pettigrew
Cloudburst
Film poster
Directed byThom Fitzgerald
Screenplay byThom Fitzgerald
Based onCloudburst
by Thom Fitzgerald
Produced by
  • Thom Fitzgerald
  • Doug Pettigrew
Starring
CinematographyThomas Harting
Edited byAngela Baker
Music by
  • Jason Michael MacIsaac
  • Warren Robert
Production
company
Emotion Pictures
Distributed bySidney Kimmel Entertainment
Release dates
Running time
93 minutes
Countries
  • Canada
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

Cloudburst is a 2011 Canadian-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald and starring Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker. The film is an adaptation of Fitzgerald's 2010 play of the same name. Cloudburst premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 16, 2011.[1] It opened in a limited release in Canada on December 7, 2012.[2]

Stella and Dotty are an older lesbian couple from Maine who embark on a Thelma and Louise-style road trip to Nova Scotia to get married after Dotty is moved into a nursing home by her granddaughter.[1] Along the way they pick up Prentice, a hitchhiker travelling home to Nova Scotia to visit his dying mother, and the three bond as they travel together.[3]

Cast

Production

Fitzgerald adapted his own stage play for the screen. The film version was produced by Doug Pettigrew and Fitzgerald, and executive produced by Sidney Kimmel, Vicki McCarty, William Jarblum, Trudy Pettigrew, Dana Warren and Shandi Mitchell.[4] Fitzgerald had originally planned for the role of Dotty to be played by Joan Orenstein, but as she died while he was writing it, he cast Fricker instead.[1] In press for the film, Fricker praised the screenplay, "I was so moved by it. The love story was so beautiful I couldn't say no to it."[5] Three members of the original stage cast reprised their roles: Ryan Doucette, Marlane O'Brien, and Michael McPhee.

Critical reception

The film received an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 9 reviews.[6] The film debuted to an enthusiastic standing ovation on September 16, 2011, at the Atlantic Film Festival, where it won an Atlantic Canada Award for Best Screenplay and the People's Choice Audience Award for Best Film of the Festival. Its second festival appearance was October 20, 2011 at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, where it also won the Audience Choice Award for Best Film, and on October 23, 2011, the film was the opening night selection of the Edmonton International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Film. Cloudburst was very well received at film festivals from coast to coast in Canada, winning awards at festivals in Halifax, Montreal, Kingston, Edmonton, Victoria, and others.

Cloudburst made its U.S. debut at the Palm Springs International Film Festival where it was named a Best of the Fest. The film made its Australian debut at the Breath of Fresh Air Tasmania Film Festival. It made its European debut as Opening Night Gala of the Dublin International Film Festival. It was also selected as Opening Night Gala of the British Film Institute London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and as the closing-night film of Frameline 36.

Brenda Fricker commented in 2012, "Of all the films I've made, only three do I remember where I felt I'd moved forward as an actress: Cloudburst, My Left Foot and The Field."[7]

Accolades

Adaptation

References

External links

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