Search The Archive

Search the film archive

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).