Her uniquely emotional songwriting fuelled the best revenge on her cheating husband: a brilliant second solo career.

Dory Previn left her mark on two key moments in music history – the Hollywood movie musical’s 1950s heyday and the 1970s singer/songwriter boom. But Dory’s life was eventful even before MGM fatefully paired the budding lyricist with composer André Previn, her future husband. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, she’d been a model, actor and chorus-line singer and dancer. Her songs earned three Oscar nominations and were recorded by the era’s biggest stars, including her idol Judy Garland. When she learned that 23-year-old Mia Farrow was having her husband’s baby, Dory spiralled. But in 1970, her transcendent autobiographical album On My Way to Where kicked off her second career as herself: a musician of startling emotional authenticity and ruthless social insight.

In this vivid celebration of Dory’s life, co-directors Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth have honoured their subject’s omnivorous creativity with a mix of archival footage, animation, narrated journal entries and her immortal lyrics. Unlike many biographical documentaries, this film doesn’t suggest Dory ‘overcame’ trauma and mental health crisis; rather, it shows that it was her radical self-acceptance that always fuelled her creative power.

“Exquisitely framed and presented in a wonderfully absorbing portrait that seeks to capture the artist’s singular artistic sensibility.” – Screen Anarchy

PRESENTED BY

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Directors Julia Greenberg and Dianna Dilworth are guests of the festival and will be in attendance at both sessions of the film.