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EVENT Feb 20th Film Festival Flix presents "The Calling"

STARRING: BRENDA BLETHYN - OSCAR® NOMINATED and BAFTA AWARD WINNER for Secrets & Lies and OSCAR®  NOMINATED for Little Voice,  AND SUSANNAH YORK , Her final film, - OSCAR®  NOMINATED and BAFTA AWARD WINNER for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

 

“THE CALLING” 

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DIRECTED BY, JAN DUNN, WINNER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARD – Gypo

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“A FILMMAKER TO WATCH” – THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

 

LANDMARK THEATRES RENAISSANCE PLACE CINEMA FEBRUARY 20

 

LOG LINE: Joanna wants to become a Nun. At the convent, a bunch of women with border-line mental illness make her wonder if she’s following the right path.

 

Writer/Director: Jan Dunn, this is Ms. Dunn’s third feature film in as many years. Known for Writing and Directing the critically acclaimed feature films Ruby Blue (UK cinemas 2008) starring Bob Hoskins and French screen legend, Josiane Balasko and  award winning Gypo, (UK cinemas 2006) starring Paul McGann, Pauline McLynn and Rula Lenska.

Starring: Emily Beecham as Joanna (Winner New Talent Trailblazer Award, Emily Beecham - Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2009); Brenda Blethyn as Sister Ignatious (Known for Oscar® nominated Secrets & Lies and Little Voice, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, A River Runs Through It, currently is playing the title role in the TV series Vera); Susannah York as The Prioress – Her Final Film (Known for Oscar® nominated and BAFTA winning performance in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Superman, Superman 2, The Crucible along side Sean Connery); Rita Tushingham as Sister Gertrude (Known for BAFTA winning performance in A Taste of Honey, Doctor Zivago, Girl with Green Eyes); Pauline McLynn as Sister Hilda (Known for Angela’s Ashes, Quills, Iris, Being Julia, Far and Away); and Amanda Donohoe as Trish (known for Liar Liar, The Madness of King George and TV credits Frasier, Starship Troopers 3, Ally McBeal).

 

SYNOPSIS: Joanna (Emily Beecham) is about to graduate from University with her
future set up for her but she has decided to face up to a truth she has
been avoiding her whole life. Since she was small, she has had the desire to become a Nun. She is set on joining a closed order of Benedictines. Her best friend cannot believe it, her boyfriend is devastated and her mother (Amanda Donohoe) feels it’s just a phase. The only encouragement she gets is from the family’s religious housekeeper, Consuela (Harriet Thorpe).  When she finally gets to the convent, the liberalism of a politically active Novice Sister, Ignatious (Brenda Blethyn), and a group of nuns with border-line mental illness, including a psychotic Mother Superior (Susannah York) and an alcoholic football fan in charge of the vineyard (Rita Tushingham), an over-pious floor mopper, Sister Hilda (Pauline McLynn), at first, makes her wonder if she’s following the right path. But as she gets to know the Sisters, their enormous community bond and the spiritual love that connects them she starts to see glimpses of her own spiritual fulfillment. Several weeks into her vocation she discovers something in herself which brings a whole new series of secrets out into the open until eventually the bond she has with Sister Ignatious dictates and assists in her destiny. Made by the award winning filmmakers of Gypo and Ruby Blue, here another social issue is tackled a little less earnestly and yet with equal heart as before.

FESTIVAL SELECTION AND AWARDS

Winner: Best of the Fest – Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2009

Winner: New Talent Trailblazer Award, Emily Beecham - Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2009

Official Selection: London Independent Film Festival

Official Selection: Keswick Film Festival

Official Selection: Cambridge Film Festival

Official Selection: Swale Film Festival

Official Selection: Rushes Soho Short Film Festival

WATCH PREVIEW HERE: http://filmfestivalflix.com/film/the-calling/

EVENT DETAILS:

Location:  Landmark Renaissance Place Cinema, Highland Park, IL

Red Carpet 6:15pm

Screening: 7:00pm

Live Q&A with Jan Dunn and VIP Reception to follow immediately after screening.

 

FILM FESTIVAL FLIX has flipped the old distribution model to accommodate changing times and shifting viewer habits.  In past years, distributors have used the internet to drive audiences to theaters.  Film Festival Flix is using theatrical openings and a monthly nationwide theatrical premiere series to drive audiences to its virtual studio and distribution channels. And it’s working. Film Festival Flix’s monthly theatrical event series offers VIP passes, Q&A’s with filmmakers and social interaction with like-minded cinephiles in the comfort of local towns and cities nationwide.

UPCOMING FILM FESTIVAL FLIX EVENTS:

March 20th, 2014  -  “Wrong”  http://filmfestivalflix.com/film/wrong

April 17th, 2014 – “Starting From Scratch” 

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