Official Selection - Competition 2006 / Sherrybaby / USA 2005
Former drug addict Sherry (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is released from prison, where she did time for robbery. She makes contact with her beloved daughter who had in the meantime been placed in the care of her brother and his wife. But re-establishing their relationship is much more complicated than it seemed at first… This feature debut – inspired by the fate of the director’s childhood friend – illustrates the flipside of contemporary America and also presents the more universal attitude towards young offenders who try to turn over a new leaf.
Sherry Swanson, who took drugs and committed a robbery, is released from prison.The outspoken young woman is now trying to get back to ordinary life. She makes contact with her brother Bobby, who has been bringing up her daughter Alexis in the meantime, and attempts to re-establish her relationship with her little girl. For a time, it seems that she’ll be able to convince people that she can stick to her resolution and become a responsible mother. She stays off the drugs and finds a job teaching young children… But confused Alexis is still under the influence of Bobby’s wife, Lynn, who is jealous of Sherry, and the distance between the girl and her real mother starts to widen. Sherry, who has now befriended a sympathetic tough guy, is driven to despair and turns to the drugs again… According to the director, the story is inspired by the fate of a childhood friend. Sherrybaby, set in New Jersey, offers a convincing performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal in the title role and demonstrates the director’s experience as a documentary filmmaker. The film shows the mechanisms of delinquents’ return to normal society and generally explores the plight of young people who fail and later try to turn over a new leaf.
92 min / Color, 35 mm
International premiere
Director Laurie Collyer
/ Screenplay Laurie Collyer
/ Dir. of Photography Russell Lee Fine
/ Music Jack Livesey
/ Editor Curtiss Clayton, Joe Landauer
/ Producer Marc Turtletaub, Lemore Syvan
/ Production Big Beach
/ Cast Maggie Gyllenhaal, Danny Trejo, Brad William Henke, Giancarlo Esposito, Sam Bottoms
/ Contact Katapult Film Sales, Elevation Filmworks, Big Beach
/ Distributor CinemArt, a.s.
www: www.bigbeachfilms.com
Laurie Collyer (New Jersey). Her first feature-length documentary was Nuyorican Dream (2000) about members of a Puerto Rican family in New York; the authentic testimony mapped out three years of their problematic existence and won a series of festival awards. Collyer herself wrote the screenplay for her feature debut, a successful product of the Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab, which assists in preparing the work of young filmmakers for shooting. The director chose Maggie Gyllenhaal after seeing her in the absurd love comedy Secretary. While she was getting funding together for Sherrybaby, she wrote another two scripts. She has also produced video films for fashion and Internet companies.
Katapult Film Sales
155 N. Anita Ave, CA 90049, Los Angeles
United States of America
Phone: +1 310 440 3494
Fax: +1 310 440 9565
E-mail: [email protected]
Elevation Filmworks
609 Greenwich Street, 4th Floor, NY 10013, New York
United States of America
Phone: +1 212 430 5090
Fax: +1 212 430 5099
E-mail: [email protected]
Big Beach
41 Great Jones Street, 5th Floor, NY 10012, New York
United States of America
Phone: +1 212 473 5800
Fax: +1 212 473 5805
E-mail: [email protected]
CinemArt, a.s.
Národní 60/28, 111 21, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 949 110
E-mail: [email protected]
Thomas Mai
Laurie Collyer
Film Director
Fleur Winters
Sales Agent
Danny Trejo
Actor
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