Only three more days of the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival left and tonight has two “jewels” on hand for your viewing pleasure…
First up, the return of Canadian filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald’s “Cloudburst” the charming film starring Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as a pair of lovers on the lam. The film screened during SIFF in late May and it’s back for a return visit as it screens as a Centerpiece event. Here’s the 411:
Oscar®-winning actresses Olympia Dukakis (MOONSTRUCK) and Brenda Fricker (MY LEFT FOOT) star in this infectious romantic dramedy about two lifelong lovers who go on the lam in order to stay together. Salty spitfire Stella (Dukakis) and her legally-blind partner Dot (Fricker) have lived together for over 30 years. With both women firmly in their 70s, the question looms whether they can continue to take adequate care of each other in their rustic seaside home. Dot’s neurotic and naÏve granddaughter decides to solve the issue by putting Dot in a conservative retirement home. Stella soon breaks her beloved out, and the couple heads for Canada to get legally married and stay together. Picking up an impressionable and attractive hitchhiker, small-town boy turned modern dancer Prentice (newcomer Ryan Doucette), the three form an unlikely bond as they share past troubles and create new ones. CLOUDBURST began in Nova Scotia as an award-winning play by SLGFF favorite Thom Fitzgerald (THE HANGING GARDEN, BEEFCAKE) who adapted and directed it for the screen. This romantic and riotous road movie about life and death, love and commitment has won accolades from audiences around the world, including 19 festival awards in North America and Europe (16 awards for Best Film).
Audience Award, Best Feature – San Francisco Frameline 2012;
Grand Jury Award, Best Film – Milan Lesbian & Gay Film Festival; Best of the Fest – Palm Springs International Film Festival
“Cloudburst” screens at 7:30pm at Pacific Place Cinemas with a party to follow at Il Fornaio in the Atrium of Pac Place.
Immediately following “Cloudburst”, the locally made “Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel” takes over for an eagerly anticipated Seattle premiere with director Wes Hurley, star Waxie Moon and much of the local cast and crew on hand. The film is a quirky, colorful valentine to both its star and the city of Seattle…half the fun is recognizing the locations and the familiar faces in the cast including Marya Sea Kaminski, Sarah Rudinoff and Nick Garrison. The Waxie Moon fun kicks off from 7pm to 9pm with a pre-screening party at The Culture Club that will include live performances from much of the talent, before heading over to Pacific Place for the 9:45pm screening. A Q & A will follow the film, then the party moves BACK to Culture Club for after screening merriment. The events at Culture Club are also a part of the CityArts Festival. Admission is free with a Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel ticket and $5 for the general public. (21+)
Check them both out!
