The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom has been selected for official competition at the Giffoni Film Festival whose mission is to promote films for young people. The film will be competing for the Gryphon Award in the Generator 18 category where the jury is composed of both adults and teenagers. Generator+18 has been created specifically to promote dialogue between the adult world and the teenage universe.

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom is the story of Elizabeth (Julia Stone), an average 11 yr 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 (Macha Grenon) 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 her daughter who’s searching for a mother – both of them really searching for themselves…

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom is Tara Johns’ first feature film. Produced by Palomar (Quebec) and Buffalo Gal Pictures (Manitoba) the film stars Macha Grenon, Julia Stone and Gil Bellows.