IDFA 1998
Alma
Ruth Leitman
United States
1998
91 min
n.a.
Margie Thorpe works as a barkeeper and sings in her own country band. This film, of which she is both the leading character and the co-producer, primarily deals with Margie‘s complicated relationship with her mother Alma. Alma, born in a southern working-class family, is a charming, funny, but above all mentally disturbed woman, who conceals the traumas from her past behind wry humour and denial. As a child, she was raped by an uncle, an incident that she describes as her ‘first date‘. In 1965, when Margie was still an infant, Alma was given electroshock treatment in a psychiatric clinic. These events had repercussions on family life and made Margie‘s youth hell. In the film, Margie is struggling with her feelings for her mentally ill mother. When at a certain moment Alma gets into a psychotic state, Margie has to decide whether she will take action by having her mother hospitalized.
Credits
Screening copy
Alma Pictures
Alma Pictures
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Ruth Leitman,
Alma Pictures
Ruth Leitman,
Alma Pictures
Distribution
Alma Pictures
Alma Pictures
Director
Production
Cinematography