The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom
Fiction / 2011 / 95 min. / English
written and directed by Tara Johns | produced by Barbara Shrier
Release date | US DVD release : January 24, 2012
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Synopsis | It’s 1976 and Elizabeth is just your average suburban 11-year-old praying for adolescence to arrive when she discovers her whole life has been a lie. With only her imagination to guide her, Elizabeth runs away in search of her true identity. Her adoptive mother Marion is then forced to break out of the carefully constructed “truth” she’s been clinging to and go after her daughter. This leads to a cathartic cross-country trek by a mother searching for a daughter who’s searching for a mother – both of them really searching for themselves…. The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom is a poignant, sometimes funny, very female, coming of age story that explores the tension between creating identity and finding it within…
Starring
| Macha Grenon Julia Stone Gil Bellows |
Rebecca Croll Rebecca Windheim Trevor Hayes |
Mung-Ling Tsui Akalu Meekis Brian Roach |
See full cast and crew credit list (PDF)
Prizes
Young Artist Awards 2012 – USA | Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Julia Stone
LA Femme Film Festival 2012 – USA | Best Feature
Festivals
Les rendez-vous du cinéma québécois 2011 – Quebec, Canada | Closing night film
GIFFONI Film Festival 2011 – Italy | Official competition
GIMLI 2011 – Manitoba, Canada | Special presentation
Eastern Townships Film Festival 2011 – Quebec, Canada | Closing night gala
LUCAS International Children’s Film Festival 2011 – Germany | Official competition
BUSTER Coppenhagen Internation Film Festival 2011 – Denmark | Official selection
DOLLY DAY 2011 – Yukon, Canada | Fundraiser Yukon Imagination Library
HAMBURG Children and Youth Film Festival 2011 – Germany | Official competition
SCHILINGEL International Film Festival 2011 – Germany | Official selection
EXGROUND filmfest 2011 – Germany | Official selection
ALE KINO International Young Audience Film Festival 2011 – Poland | Special presentation
KESWICK Film Festival 2012 – England | Non-competitive
Freeze Frame International Film Festival 2012 – Manitoba, Canada | Official competition
BUFF Film Festival 2012 – Sweden | Official competition
Women’s International Film & Arts Festival 2012 – USA | Non-competitive
United Way of Southwest Wyoming – USA | Fundraiser Imagination Library
Showcomotion Film Festival 2012 – England | Official competition | Opening night gala
Isle of Wight Film Festival 2012 – England | Closing night gala
Seoul International Youth Film Festival 2012 – South Korea | Official competition
LA Femme Film Festival 2012 – USA | Official competition | Winner: Best Feature
Molodist International Film Festival 2012 – Ukraine | Official competition
Randevu Istanbul Film Festival 2012 – Turkey | Official competition
Vittorio Veneto Film Festival 2013 – Italy | Official competition
Beijing International Film Festival 2013 – China | Panorama
Mon Premier Festival 2013 – France | Official competition
International Children’s Film Festival India (ICFFI) 2013 – India | Children’s World
Distribution
| Quebec | Métropole Films 5266 Boulevard St-Laurent Montreal, QC, H2T 1S1 Canada T: 514 223 5511 F: 514 227 1231 |
Canada | Mongrel Media inc. 1028 Queen St. West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H6 Canada T: 416 516 9775 F: 416 516 0651 Toll-Free: 888 607 3456 |
USA | Osiris Entertainment 9315 Eton Ave., Chatsworth CA 91311 T: 818 576 1030 F: 818 576 1048 www.osirisent.com |
International | REEL SUSPECTS 42, rue René Boulanger 75010 Paris, France T: 33 1 42 40 12 84 F: 33 9 57 73 07 66 M: 33 6 14 45 62 78 www.reelsuspects.com |
Original soundtrack
An intrinsic part of the film is not only to have Dolly Parton’s persona woven through the story, but her music as well. In addition to original recordings that come from the on-screen action, Tara Johns always envisioned Canadian artists recording their own versions of Dolly Parton songs for the film’s soundtrack, further underscoring the theme of finding one’s own voice. Five of Dolly Parton’s classic songs have been re-recorded for the film: The Grass is Blue, Light of a Clear Blue Morning, Do I Ever Cross Your Mind, The Seeker, and Little Sparrow. Canadian artists selected to deliver their renditions of these songs include Martha Wainwright, Wailin’ Jennys, Coral Egan, Nelly Furtado, and Franco-Manitoban singer-songwriter Geneviève Toupin.
You can purchase the soundtrack in all good music stores, on land or online.
Nelly Furtado – The Seeker
[audio:http://theyeardollypartonwasmymom.ca/wp-content/uploads/seeker.mp3|title=Nelly Furtado – The Seeker]Martha Wainwright – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
[audio:http://theyeardollypartonwasmymom.ca/wp-content/uploads/mind.mp3|title=Martha Wainwright – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind]The Wailin’ Jennys – Light of a Clear Blue Morning
[audio:http://theyeardollypartonwasmymom.ca/wp-content/uploads/morning.mp3|title=The Wailin’ Jennys – Light of a Clear Blue Morning]
Photo Gallery
Photos Rebecca Sandulak
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Photos Sébastien Raymond
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Media Kit
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