Theresa Is a Mother

Last updated
Theresa Is a Mother
Theresa Is a Mother poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Darren Press and C. Fraser Press
Written byC. Fraser Press
Produced by Darren Press
Starring Edie McClurg
C. Fraser Press
Matthew Gumley
Schuyler Iona Press
Maeve Press
Richard Poe
CinematographyAlex Kornreich
Edited byChad Smith
Music bySchuyler Iona Press
Distributed byGarden Thieves Pictures (Worldwide - all media)
Release date
  • October 4, 2012 (2012-10-04)(Vegas Cine Fest)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Theresa is a Mother is a 2012 American comedy drama feature film directed by C. Fraser Press and Darren Press, and starring Edie McClurg, C. Fraser Press, Matthew Gumley, Schuyler Iona Press, Maeve Press and Richard Poe. The screenplay is by C. Fraser Press. The film was produced by A May Sky Picture Entertainment and is being distributed worldwide by Garden Thieves Pictures.

Contents

The film has screened at numerous film festivals around the country. Theresa is a Mother has been the recipient of 16 film festival awards including seven festival wins for Best Feature Film.

Synopsis

Theresa McDermott has chased her “ideal” life as an urban-dwelling, punk(ish) singer-songwriter to the very end of its possible existence. She is broke, options have run out and she happens to have a few kids she is raising on her own since their dad split a year ago. Facing eviction and nowhere to go, Theresa packs up her children and what is left of her life and moves back to the small rural town, childhood home and parents she deliberately ran from a decade ago. Her parents’ mutual misery and depressingly gloomy lives were a “downer” she felt had no place in her fun city life. Yet from the moment Theresa drives back up her old driveway, it is clear that there have been some major changes. Her parents, armed with a plethora of hobbies, a hot tub and a new philosophy, are not exactly the old folks she left behind. Theresa needs a job, her parents need their space and a painful family history needs some closure. Old wounds, unattainable dreams, and some “other things” are exposed as a fractured family works to become whole and a woman with a few kids learns to become a mother.

Music

Music plays a major role in Theresa is a Mother. The Theresa is a Mother sound track features an eclectic array of music from Garage Punk to Merengue to Crooner to Southern Fried Honky Tonk. The main theme, “Summer Child” written and composed by 14-year-old cast member Schuyler Iona Press [1] (plays role of Maggie McDermott), was arranged and recorded by pianist John Ferrara. Another song written and composed by Schuyler Iona Press, “No Words,” was arranged for the guitar and recorded by student Grammy Award Band member Gabe Schnider. [2] “No Words” is used throughout Theresa is a Mother as a main part of the film score. The Theresa Is A Mother Soundtrack features original music from: The Two-Bit Terribles, Frank Lamphere, Honky Tonk Union, Rumba Con Son, The Dave Sammarco Band, Karu, and Schuyler Iona Press. An official soundtrack has yet to be released.

Awards and nominations

Related Research Articles

<i>My Summer of Love</i> 2004 British film

My Summer of Love is a 2004 British drama film directed by Paweł Pawlikowski and co-written by Pawlikowski and Michael Wynne. Based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Helen Cross, the film explores the romantic relationship between two young women from different classes and backgrounds. Working class Mona, whose once-hotheaded brother Phil became a born-again Christian in prison, meets upper middle class Tamsin who suffers from a lack of love in her family. Filmed in West Yorkshire, the film went on to win a BAFTA.

A Kiss on the Nose is a short film first released in the United States on August 15, 2004, during the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Written and directed by Laura Neri, the film stars Azita Ghanizada, Gianfranco Russo, Elena Fabri, Maeva Cifuentes, Monica Cortes, Svilena Kidess, Pat Lach and Warren Sweeney.

<i>Half Nelson</i> (film) 2006 American film

Half Nelson is a 2006 American drama film directed by Ryan Fleck and written by Fleck and Anna Boden. The film stars Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps and Anthony Mackie. It was scored by Canadian band Broken Social Scene. 26-year-old Gosling was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, becoming the eighth-youngest nominee in the category.

Ruth Negga Irish actress

Ruth Negga is an Irish actress known for the AMC television series Preacher and the film Loving. For her portrayal of Mildred Loving in the latter, Negga received several major nominations from the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, and won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress. In 2022, Negga made her Broadway debut in a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth as Lady Macbeth, and earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.

Steve Balderson American film director

Stephen Clark Balderson is an American film director.

Debra Granik American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer

Debra Granik is an American filmmaker. She is most known for 2004's Down to the Bone, which starred Vera Farmiga, 2010's Winter's Bone, which starred Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout performance and for which Granik was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and 2018's Leave No Trace, a film based on the book My Abandonment by Peter Rock.

Shareeka Epps is an American actress. She is best known for starring in the 2006 film Half Nelson, alongside Ryan Gosling. She won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in the film.

Enigma is a 2009 science-fiction short film. It is written and directed by the Shumway Brothers.

Tanya Hamilton is an American film director and producer. She came to the United States at the age of eight, and settled in Maryland with her mother. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and Columbia University.

Love Does Grow on Trees is a short comedy film written and directed by Bevan Walsh and produced by Geraldine Patten. The film stars Luke Ward-Wilkinson, El Krajewski and Tom Brooke.

Darren Press American film producer

Darren Press is an American film director and film producer from New York. He attended Boston University and California Western School of Law in San Diego. When he returned to New York City, he studied and performed with the improv troupe Satire on Broadway and met his wife, writer/director/actress C. Fraser Press, who was also performing with the troupe. Press later became the managing director and Director for Gotham City Improv a former affiliate of The Groundlings and then became the managing director of the Melting Pot Theatre Company. He currently is a partner in the film, TV and theatre production company A May Sky Picture Entertainment.

<i>Pariah</i> (2011 film) Film by Dee Rees

Pariah is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike, a 17-year-old Black teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award.

Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival

The Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival is a film festival with a focus on independent films held annually at L.A. Live / Staples Center and additional cinemas across Hollywood, California. HRIFF guests have included Pierce Brosnan, Hilary Duff, Harry Dean Stanton, Martin Landau, Joe Mantegna, Josh Brener, Frances Fisher and Uwe Boll and many other Hollywood film celebrities.

Heather Dorff American actress, writer, and producer

Heather Dorff is an American actress, writer, and producer currently living in Los Angeles, California.

Alexander Tuschinski German film producer, writer and director

Alexander Tuschinski is a German film director, film producer, writer, actor and musician. Internationally, he is best known for his feature films which have won awards at various film festivals, as well as his academic writing on the early works of Tinto Brass. Notably, his research into, and interest in, Brass's work on Caligula was examined in his feature documentary Mission: Caligula. At the documentary's premiere, Penthouse announced plans to work with Tuschinski on a new cut of Caligula that aims to restore and finish Brass's original version of the film. Though 85 minutes of his original workprint will be used, it remains unclear if Brass himself will be involved in finishing the film's edit.

<i>Brimstone</i> (2016 film) 2016 film by Martin Koolhoven

Brimstone is a 2016 Western film written and directed by Martin Koolhoven, starring Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Emilia Jones, Kit Harington, and Carice van Houten. The film is a Dutch-American as well as French, German, Belgian and Swedish international production.

Jennifer Phang American filmmaker

Jennifer Phang is an American filmmaker, most known for her feature films Advantageous (2015) and Half-Life (2008). Advantageous premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision, and was based on her award-winning short film of the same name. Half-Life premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won "Best Film" awards at a number of film festivals including the Gen Art Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival as well an "Emerging Director Award" at the Asian American International Film Festival.

<i>Red</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

Red is a short dark thriller set in the underground world of illegal organ smuggling, the so-called red market. It's the directing debut of Branko Tomovic who is probably best known in the US for playing Jack Bauer's sidekick in the recent "24: Live Another Day" series and stars British actress Francesca Fowler with the acclaimed Irish actress Dervla Kirwan as the sadistic and cruel crime boss.

Dora's Peace is a 2016 South African crime drama directed by Konstandino Kalarytis and starring Khabonina Qubeka, Danny Keogh, Hlubi Mboya, Ronnie Nyakale and Paballo Koza.

References

  1. ↑ Cantone, Michael. "Must See: "Theresa is a Mother" Hits Orlando Film Festival". West Orlando News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "GRAMMY Foundation Selects Students For GRAMMY Jazz Ensemble Program". BWW Musicworld.com. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 "News". Orlando Film Festival. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "2012 Festival Favorite 'THERESA IS A MOTHER' Comes to QUAD CINEMA". indienyc.com. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "2012 International Film Festival Manhattan Announces Film Selections". Film Festival Today. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "And the 2012 winner are." NYC Independent Film Festival. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "And the 2012 winners are." NYC Independent Film Festival. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.