It was also selected as Opening Night Gala of the British Film Institute London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and as the closing-night film of Frameline 36.īrenda Fricker 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 and The Field.' Accolades It made its European debut as Opening Night Gala of the Dublin International Film Festival. The film made its Australian debut at the Breath of Fresh Air Tasmania Film Festival. debut at the Palm Springs International Film Festival where it was named a Best of the Fest. 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.Ĭloudburst made its U.S. Its second festival appearance was Octoat Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, where it also won the Audience Choice Award for Best Film, and on Octothe film was the opening night selection of the Edmonton International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Canadian Film.

The film debuted to an enthusiastic standing ovation on Septemat the Atlantic Film Festival, where it won an Atlantic Canada Award for Best Screenplay and the People's Choice Audience Award for Best Film of the Festival. The film received an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 9 reviews.

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. In press for the film, Fricker praised the screenplay, 'I was so moved by it. Fitzgerald had originally planned for the role of Dotty to be played by Joan Orenstein, but as she died while he was writing it, he cast Fricker instead. 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. Cast įitzgerald adapted his own stage play for the screen. 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. Stella and Dotty are an older lesbian couple from Maine who embark on a Thelma and Louise-style road trip to Nova Scotia to get married after Dotty is moved into a nursing home by her granddaughter. It opened in a limited release in Canada on December 7, 2012. The film is an adaptation of Fitzgerald's 2010 play of the same name.Ĭloudburst premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 16, 2011.

Cloudburst is a 2011 Canadian-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald and starring Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker.

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