TIFF 2010: Abe Sylvia’s Dirty Girl

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Part of the films being offered at TIFF that could easily secure a spot at Sundance, Abe Sylvia’s directorial debut, a film that borrows heavily from narrative elements found in Little Miss Sunshine. Dirty Girl hit a cord with the first audience to see it and Weinsteins paid a whopping 3 million for the title.

Juno Temple and newbie actor Jeremy Dozier are foul-mouthed and have attitudes that will eventually match, which is perhaps the film’s selling point but ultimately also the reason why I quickly dismissed it. The 70’s/80’s pop soundtrack supplied mostly by Melissa Manchester (that is her in the Q&A below) does nothing to lessen the continual spewing of pointless retorts full of crudeness and vileness. Before penning the Black List script, Sylvia worked in theater, and you certainly sense a “theatricality” in the film’s DNA and over the top perfs from the supporting cast players such as Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy and Dwight Yoakam. Expect a theatrical release for 2011 – perhaps during a period where Glee is running re-runs. Here’s the September 12th Q&A.

Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society), FIPRESCI and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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