ESTEVAN — Estevan residents were invited to reflect on mother-daughter relationships captured through the independent Mother of All Shows movie.
The Saskatchewan premiere took place at the Orpheum Theatre Sunday afternoon.
Director, co-writer and star Melissa D'Agostino and co-director and editor Matt Campagna came to Estevan for the local debut and answered guests' questions after the movie, which also stars Wendie Malick, known for her roles in Just Shoot Me, Shrinking, Hot in Cleveland, Young Sheldon and more.
This musical traumedy tells the story of Liza (D'Agostino), who is trying to cope with the impending death of her estranged mother Rosa (Malick). She creates a 1970s-style variety show in her mind in which the all-powerful host is her mother, who leads a cast of people from Liza's past and present.
The creators used an assortment of techniques to help viewers submerge into the world of variety shows, through which they were offered to explore family trauma, mental health and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.
"The film was born out of a desire to explore a mother-daughter relationship in a slightly different way. It's slightly based on some of my own experiences, but co-written with someone else, so it's fictional," D'Agostino said.
"In terms of how much of me is in Liza, Liza is a combination of me, Liza Minnelli, Carrie Fisher, my sister and other women I know who have had similar experiences, so it was a combination of those influences. There are things in the movie that did happen in my life. We reframed a lot of them and put them in different contexts, but a lot of the actual interactions from my upbringing and adulthood are in the movie. And then there are highly fictionalized things just because a) I think this is more interesting than my life, … but also because it helps to explore what David [James Brock, script co-writer] and I and the whole team are trying to explore," she added.
She noted that externalizing her experience and making it into a character was helpful for her, both in the sense of acting and also from a therapeutic standpoint.
The choice of a variety show format, to a point, was dictated by personal experience, which would be something many people could relate to. Besides, it was a metaphorical way to bring different experiences together. Campagna noted that they also worked with different filters and screen ratios to make the idea work.
"The trick was very careful preparation to decide what the meaning of it was going to be. [The movie] starts with this classic widescreen look. And then it goes into a TV four by three, designed to reduce your field of vision. And then as the film goes on and live to get clear on what's happening, the metaphor had to be supported. So, by the end of it … it's 16 by nine, filling the whole screen," Campagna explained.
The movie also has a cartoon element, which D'Agostino said was their way to create a "very sincere" setting.
Answering questions from the audience, D'Agostino discussed the challenges of acting and directing simultaneously and the importance of a collaborative effort in filmmaking. She also talked about her experience working with Malick.
"We were lucky to get a Wendie Malick, she was a dream to work with," D'Agostino said. "She is as kind as she is talented, and has continued to support the film so much, has come to some of our premieres when her schedule accommodated. And acting with her was a dream, it was so easy."
Mother of All Shows premiered in New York at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, winning Outstanding Narrative Feature and Outstanding Director awards last May. The Canadian debut occurred at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival recently. The film has been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Original Song and Best Hair Design.
The Orpheum was a part of a nationwide road show for the movie.
"It's been a real joy to come and show it to audiences in independent cinemas. We are an independent film company and want to see beautiful spaces like this continue to show films and thrive," D'Agostino said.
D'Agostino and Campagna came to Estevan on Sunday, but that wasn't their first visit.
"We got to spend a day in Estevan last summer on our way to North Dakota, and we loved it. So, when we were looking at all the theatres we could pitch to, we saw that there was one in Estevan. … So, we were happy to come back," D'Agostino said.
They added they hope it won't be their last visit to Estevan, which was their only stop in Saskatchewan.
"This is something that we want to keep doing with Highball.TV where we can bring filmmaking to awesome communities and fantastic theatres. So hopefully we'll see you guys again next time," Campagna said.
"We make movies at a certain level where we have the opportunity to come and connect with people and we really want to. It's really hard these days, after he pandemic … and with streaming the way we watch things now, we feel it's so important to keep this experience alive. Because sitting in a theatre with other people watching something is a very special experience," D'Agostino added.
