Patricia Rozema Retrospective: Mouthpiece (2019) 4K Restoration
Director: Patricia Rozema Run Time: 91 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2019
Starring: Amy Nostbakken, Jess Salgueiro, Maev Beaty, Norah Sadava, Taylor Belle Puterman
Country: Canada
Language: English
About the film:
Adapted from the play by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, who also star in the film. Cassandra is an aspiring writer who, while struggling to compose a eulogy after the sudden death of her mother, comes to discover that her own rebelliousness is as much a response to the male gaze as her mother’s conformity. Enacting the two sides of Cassandra’s conflicting inner dialogue, playwright-performers Nostbakken and Sadava create a compelling portrayal of the tension between regression and progress that is often found within women.
“a truly revolutionary piece of filmmaking.”
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times
About the filmmaker:
Patricia Rozema is a Canadian writer and director who is known for her uniquely tender films. When Rozema was growing up, television was severely restricted in her house, and didn’t go to a movie theatre until she was 16 years old. She graduated from Calvin College and Seminary with a degree in philosophy, and after a brief stint in journalism, she began work on her first feature film, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987). The film, a magical realist film about a socially inept secretary in an art gallery, made for one of the most outstanding and celebrated feature debuts in the history of Canadian cinema. At the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) won the Prix de la Jeunesse and was runner-up for the Camera d’Or. In 2023, it was announced by Telefilm Canada that Rozema’s sophomore feature, White Room (1990),would be digitally restored under its government-funded program to preserve classic Canadian films.
In 1995, Rozema wrote and directed the queer classic When Night is Falling (1995), which won festival audience prizes around the world and remains a celebrated film in the LGBTQ+ community. Her following films include Mansfield Park (1999), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008), Happy Days (2000), and Into the Forest (2016). Rozema’s latest feature, Mouthpiece (2019), was adapted from a play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, who also star in the film. Mouthpiece (2019) opened at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival and was named one of TIFF’s Top Ten Canadian Films of the year.
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