Gaudi Afternoon

Last updated
Gaudi Afternoon
Gaudi Afternoon (film).jpg
Directed by Susan Seidelman
Written byJames Myhre
Based onGaudi Afternoon
by Barbara Wilson
Produced by Andrés Vicente Gómez
Starring Judy Davis
Marcia Gay Harden
Lili Taylor
Juliette Lewis
Christopher Bowen
Courtney Jines
CinematographyJosep M. Civit
Edited byDeirdre Slevin
Music by Bernardo Bonezzi
Production
company
Lolafilms
Distributed by Filmauro
First Look International
Release date
  • May 2001 (2001-05)
Running time
97 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Spain
LanguageEnglish

Gaudi Afternoon is a 2001 American-Spanish comedy film starring Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Lili Taylor, Juliette Lewis, Christopher Bowen and Courtney Jines. [1] The film is based on Barbara Wilson's detective novel and directed by Susan Seidelman.

Contents

Plot

Cassandra, an expatriate American book translator (Judy Davis) living in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, who is hired by a mysterious woman, Frankie (Marcia Gay Harden), to locate her missing husband so he can sign some important papers. Nothing Frankie says is true: the husband turns out to be a woman, the issue isn't legal papers but a child's custody, and even Frankie's most obvious identity, in red cape and red pumps, is a false front. But Cassandra keeps at it, at first to earn her promised fee, and then to help Frankie, then Frankie's ex, then the child. Along the way, this solitary and somewhat disconnected and bewildered writer frees herself to finish a novel and re-establish a broken relationship with her own past.

Barbara Wilson's novel is the winner of a British Crime Writers' Award for Best Mystery Based in Europe and a Lambda Literary Award. The story is a high-spirited comic adventure that works issues of sexual politics into a madcap plot. The city of Barcelona is a lively party to the film and book's action.

Release

Gaudi Afternoon was the opening night screening at the 25th San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It was selected as the closing night film for the New York LGBT Film Festival, the Western and Southern Australian Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the Miami International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the Sydney Women of the World International Film Festival. It also played at Outfest, Seattle International Film Festival and the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, among many other venues.

In 2002, the film had a theatrical release in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. After a short run in New York City, it played on TV and DVD in the US.

Related Research Articles

Marcia Gay Harden American actress

Marcia Gay Harden is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for a Critics' Choice Movie Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<i>P.S.</i> (film) 2004 American film

P.S. is a 2004 drama film directed by Dylan Kidd. The screenplay by Kidd and Helen Schulman is based on Schulman's 2001 novel p.s. The film stars Laura Linney and Topher Grace.

Marcia Davenport was an American writer and music critic. She is best known for her 1932 biography of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the first American published biography of Mozart. Davenport also is known for her novels The Valley of Decision and East Side, West Side, both of which were adapted to film in 1945 and 1949, respectively.

Barbara Hammer American filmmaker

Barbara Jean Hammer was an American feminist film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of lesbian film genre, whose career spanned over 50 years. Hammer is known for having created experimental films dealing with women's issues such as gender roles, lesbian relationships and coping with aging and family. She resided in New York City and Kerhonkson, New York, and taught each summer at the European Graduate School.

Susan Seidelman American film director, producer and writer

Susan Seidelman is an American film director, producer, and writer. She first came to notice with Smithereens (1982), the earliest American independent feature to be screened in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Her next feature, Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), co-starred Madonna in her first film. She-Devil (1989) starred Meryl Streep in her first starring comedic film role and Roseanne Barr in her first feature-film role. Seidelman's subsequent films mix comedy with drama, blending genres and pop-cultural references with a focus on women protagonists, particularly outsiders. She also works in television and directed the pilot episode of Sex and the City.

Cheryl Dunye Liberian-American actress and director

Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known as the first out black lesbian to ever direct a feature film with her 1996 film The Watermelon Woman. She runs the production company Jingletown Films based in Oakland California.

<i>The Dead Girl</i> 2006 film by Karen Moncrieff

The Dead Girl is a 2006 American drama thriller film written and directed by Karen Moncrieff, starring Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature and Best Director. It is the story of a young woman's death and the people linked to her murder. It also features Mary Beth Hurt, Kerry Washington, James Franco, Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Brolin, Mary Steenburgen and Piper Laurie. The film was premiered at the AFI Film Festival, and was given a limited US theatrical release on 29 December 2006. It was generally well received. It only ran for two weeks in US first-run theaters, and earned nearly all its revenue from overseas release.

<i>The Maiden Heist</i> 2009 American film

The Maiden Heist is a 2009 American crime comedy film directed by Peter Hewitt and starring Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was released as The Heist in the United Kingdom.

<i>Tan de repente</i> 2002 Argentine film

Tan de repente (Suddenly) is a 2002 Argentine and Dutch black-and-white comedy drama film directed by Diego Lerman and written by Lerman, María Meira, and Eloisa Solaas, based on the novel La prueba, written by César Aira. The drama features Tatiana Saphir, Carla Crespo, Veronica Hassan, among others.

<i>Were the World Mine</i> 2008 American film

Were the World Mine is a 2008 romantic musical fantasy film directed by Tom Gustafson, written by Gustafson and Cory James Krueckeberg, and starring Tanner Cohen, Wendy Robie, Judy McLane, Zelda Williams, Jill Larson, Ricky Goldman, Nathaniel David Becker, Christian Stolte, and David Darlow.

Pat Parker American poet and activist

Pat Parker was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist. Her poetry spoke about her tough childhood growing up in poverty, dealing with sexual assault, and the murder of a sister. At eighteen, Parker was in an abusive relationship and had a miscarriage after being pushed down a flight of stairs. After two divorces she came out as lesbian "embracing her sexuality" and said she was liberated and "knew no limits when it came to expressing the innermost parts of herself".

Debra Chasnoff American filmmaker (1957–2017)

Debra Chasnoff was an American documentary filmmaker and activist whose films address progressive social justice issues. Her production company GroundSpark produces and distributes films, educational resources and campaigns on issues ranging from environmental concerns to affordable housing to preventing prejudice.

<i>High Tide</i> (1987 film) 1987 Australian film

High Tide is a 1987 Australian drama film starring Judy Davis, from a script by Laura Jones, about the mother-daughter bond, directed by Gillian Armstrong. Armstrong reported that when she began work on High Tide she pinned a note above her desk: "Blood ties. Water. Running Away." Jan Adele plays Lilli's mother-in-law Bet, in her film debut.

<i>The Wine of Summer</i> 2013 American film

The Wine of Summer is a 2013 romantic drama film written, directed and produced by Maria Matteoli, starring Elsa Pataky, Sônia Braga, Ethan Peck, Najwa Nimri, Bob Wells and Marcia Gay Harden.

Frida Torresblanco is a Mexican American independent film and television producer known for her work with Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro.

John Edward Heys is an American independent filmmaker, actor and writer who lives and works in Berlin.

<i>Grandma</i> (film) 2015 film by Paul Weitz

Grandma is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and produced by Paul Weitz. It stars Lily Tomlin as Elle, a lesbian poet and widow whose teenage granddaughter visits her to ask for money for an abortion. Over the space of a day, they visit numerous people from Elle's past to call in favors in an effort to raise the money.

<i>Alto</i> (film) 2015 American film

Alto is a 2015 American romantic comedy crime film written and directed by Mikki del Monico. It stars Diana DeGarmo and Natalie Knepp as two Italian-American women who develop an unlikely friendship considering one is a mob boss's daughter and the other is a singer in a band. Nicolette develops feelings for Frankie but all Frankie can do is run away from her emotions. The film is light-hearted while showing the struggles of coming out to the family.

Barbara Wilson is the pen name of Barbara Sjoholm, an American writer, editor, publisher, and translator. She co-founded two publishing companies: Seal Press and Women in Translation Press. As Barbara Sjoholm, she is the author of memoir, essays, a biography, and travelogues, including The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, which was a finalist for the PEN USA award in creative nonfiction. She is also a translator of fiction and nonfiction by Norwegian and Danish writers into English, and won the Columbia Translation Award and the American-Scandinavian Translation Award. As Barbara Wilson, she has written two mystery series and has won several awards for her mystery novels, including the British Crime Writers Association award and the Lambda Literary Award. She is known for her novel Gaudi Afternoon, which was made into a film directed by Susan Seidelman in 2001.

References