THINGS BEHIND THE SUN

Director Allison Anders / 2000 / USA

In 1992, Gas Food Lodging placed US Allison Anders on the world map as one of the strongest US independent filmmakers. With this, her sixth feature - between directing Sex and the City - she addresses difficult terrain. Sherry, a Florida singer in the touch-yet-tender female rocker vein (her band includes J Mascus from Dinosaur Jr) has just released a chart hit that traces her hazy memory of being raped as a young girl. On hearing of her success, Owen, a rock journalist, decides to cover her success. But Owen knows something about Sherry's past, something he's still trying to reconcile.

Director/co-writer Anders not only revisits her own traumatic experiences in Things Behind the Sun, but in doing so journeys into emotional territory rare in films about rape: a male character who is both victim and perpetrator. This courageous film, concerned with the severe aftermath of living with horrible memories years later, is driven by complex, unpredictable characters.

"Amongst a fine cast including a number of Anders regulars, Kim Dickens shines as the singer struggling to move on from her past." - London Film Festival

Allison Anders' (born in Kentucky, USA, 1954) rough childhood encouraged an insider's sympathy for the strong but put-upon women who people her films. She has directed the television series Sex and the City, as well as a number of films: Gas Food Lodging (1992), Grace of My Heart (1996) and Sugar Town (1999).

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