''Cloudburst'' is a 2011 Canadian-American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald and starring

Olympia Dukakis Olympia Dukakis (June 20, 1931 – May 1, 2021) was an American actress. She performed in more than 130 stage productions, in some 60 films, and in approximately 50 television series. Best known as a screen actress, she started her career in the ...

and

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

. The film is an adaptation of Fitzgerald's 2010 play of the same name. ''Cloudburst'' premiered at the

Atlantic Film Festival The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of ...

in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 16, 2011."A queer Thelma and Louise story"
. ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'', September 13, 2011. It opened in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in Canada on December 7, 2012.

Plot

Stella and Dotty are an older lesbian couple from Maine who embark on a

Thelma and Louise Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel '' Thelma''. Although the character was supposed to be Norwegian, it is not a traditional Scandinavian n ...

-style road trip to Nova Scotia to get married after Dotty is moved into a nursing home by her granddaughter. Along the way they pick up Prentice, a hitchhiker travelling home to Nova Scotia to visit his dying mother, and the three bond as they travel together.

Cast

as Stella *

as Dot * Ryan Doucette as Prentice *

Kristin Booth Kristin Booth (born August 28, 1974) is a Canadian actress. Early life Booth grew up in Kitchener , near the Shakespeare festival town of Stratford, Ontario. She made her professional acting debut when she was 12, playing an orphan in a summer ...

as Molly * Michael McPhee as Tommy *

Mary-Colin Chisholm Mary-Colin Chisholm is a Canadian actress, playwright, and co-assistant director of the theatre companies LunaSea Theatre and Frankie Productions. Career In 2000, Chisholm directed the theatrical piece called ''Frankie'', starring Mary Ellen Macle ...

as Ynez * Marlane O'Brien as Cat

Production

Fitzgerald adapted his own stage play for the screen. The film version was produced by Doug Pettigrew and Fitzgerald, and executive produced by Sidney Kimmel, Vicki McCarty, William Jarblum, Trudy Pettigrew, Dana Warren and Shandi Mitchell. Fitzgerald had originally planned for the role of Dotty to be played by

Joan Orenstein Joan Orenstein (December 4, 1923 – October 10, 2009) was a British-born Canadian actress, primarily on stage, although she performed in other media. One of her best-known roles was in the 1997 film '' The Hanging Garden'' as the dotty old g ...

, but as she died while he was writing it, he cast Fricker instead. In press for the film, Fricker praised the screenplay, "I was so moved by it. The love story was so beautiful I couldn't say no to it." Three members of the original stage cast reprised their roles: Ryan Doucette, Marlane O'Brien, and Michael McPhee.

Critical reception

The film received an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator

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, with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 9 reviews. The film debuted to an enthusiastic standing ovation on September 16, 2011 at the

, where it won an Atlantic Canada Award for Best Screenplay and the People's Choice Audience Award for Best Film of the Festival. Its second festival appearance was October 20, 2011 at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, where it also won the Audience Choice Award for Best Film, and on October 23, 2011 the film was the opening night selection of the

Edmonton International Film Festival The Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) is a nine-day film festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, hosted at Landmark Cinemas at Edmonton City Centre. It is supported by and partnered with Telefilm Canada, Government of Alberta, Alberta ...

where it won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Film. ''Cloudburst'' was very well received at film festivals from coast to coast in Canada, winning awards at festivals in Halifax, Montreal, Kingston, Edmonton, Victoria, and others. ''Cloudburst'' made its U.S. debut at the

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 19 ...

where it was named a Best of the Fest. The film made its Australian debut at the Breath of Fresh Air Tasmania Film Festival. It made its European debut as Opening Night Gala of the

Dublin International Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival that has been held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History The Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer (journalist), ...

. It was also selected as Opening Night Gala of the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and as the closing-night film of Frameline 36.

commented in 2012, "Of all the films I've made, only three do I remember where I felt I'd moved forward as an actress: ''Cloudburst'', ''

My Left Foot ''My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown'' is a 1989 Biographical film, biographical Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed by Jim Sheridan (in his director debut) adapted by Sheridan and Shane Connaughton from My Left Foot (book), the 195 ...

'' and '' The Field''."

Accolades

* Asheville QFest Best Actress Award,

* Asheville QFest Best Supporting Actress Award,

* Athens, Greece Outview Film Festival Best Film Award *

Atlanta Film Festival The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is an international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia and operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a diverse r ...

Pink Peach Feature Grand Jury Prize * Atlanta Out on Film Festival Audience Award for Best Overall Feature * Atlanta Out on Film Jury Award for Best Film * Atlanta Out on Film Jury Award for Best Actress,

People's Choice Audience Award for Best Film of the Festival *

Michael Weir Atlantic Canada Award for Best Screenplay, Thom Fitzgerald * Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film * Birmingham UK Shout Festival Audience Award for Best Picture *

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Opening Night Gala *Canadian Film Festival Opening Night Gala * Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival Audience Choice Award for Best Film of the Festival * CNKY Cincinnati Kentucky GLBT Festival Award for Best Feature Film * Copenhagen MIX Copenhagen Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film *

Opening Night Gala *

Audience Award for Best Canadian Indie Film * Hannover Queer Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film * Image+Nation Montreal GLBT Film Festival Best Feature Film Award * Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival Audience Award for Best Lesbian Film * Kingston Reelout Film Festival Opening Night Gala * Kingston Reelout Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature * Melbourne Queer Film Festival Opening Night Gala *Mix Milan Film Festival, Grand Jury Award for Best Feature * New Zealand Out Takes: A Reel Queer Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Feature * North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature *

Best of the Fest Selection * Qfest Philadelphia Audience Award for Best Feature * QFest St. Louis Audience Award for Best Feature * Rainbow Reels Waterloo Film Festival People's Choice Award for Best Feature Film * Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film * FilmOut San Diego, Audience Award for Best Feature Film * FilmOut San Diego, Jury Award for Best Feature Film * FilmOut San Diego, Jury Award for Best Leading Actress * FilmOut San Diego, Jury Award for Best Direction * San Francisco Frameline Festival Audience Award for Best Film * Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Audience Award for Best Feature *

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

Top Ten Most Popular Canadian Film Award * Victoria Film Festival Best Canadian Film Award

Adaptation

''Cloudburst'' is based on the stage play by Thom Fitzgerald, which debuted on April 8, 2010 at the Plutonium Playhouse in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The play starred Carroll Godsman, Deborah Allen, Ryan Doucette, Marlane O'Brien, Michael McPhee and Amy Reitsma. The successful engagement ran for five weeks and closed on May 8, 2010. The production was nominated for several Merritt Awards, Nova Scotia's professional theatre awards, including nominations for Outstanding Production, Outstanding New Play (Fitzgerald) Outstanding Lead Actress (Allen), Outstanding Supporting Actor (Doucette), and Outstanding Set Design (Fitzgerald). Fitzgerald won the Merritt Award for Outstanding New Play.

References

External links

* (Archive) *
''Cloudburst''
at Northernstars (Canadian Movie Database) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloudburst 2011 films 2011 independent films 2011 LGBTQ-related films 2010s adventure comedy-drama films 2010s road comedy-drama films American adventure comedy-drama films American independent films American LGBTQ-related films American road comedy-drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films Canadian LGBTQ-related films Canadian road comedy-drama films Lesbian-related films LGBTQ and ageing LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films Films about same-sex marriage Films about old age Films set in Maine Films set in Nova Scotia Films shot in Nova Scotia Films directed by Thom Fitzgerald Sidney Kimmel Entertainment films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s Canadian films English-language independent films English-language adventure comedy-drama films English-language road comedy-drama films