Sneak Preview: DIRTY GIRL (Abe Sylvia, 2011)
Event Date: October 6, 2011 - 7:30pm
Location: The James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall 1409, UCLA
"Dirty Girl" is the story of Danielle (Juno Temple), the dirty girl of Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, circa 1987. When Danielle's misbehavior gets her banished to a remedial class, she is paired on a parenting project with Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), an innocent closet-case with no friends. Danielle is determined to get to California to find the father she's never met, and Clarke is desperate to escape being sent to military school by his homophobic dad. Together, the mismatched misfits light out for California, and discover each other and themselves through a funny and serendipitous friendship.
Writer/Director and UCLA Alum Abe Sylvia in person for a Q&A moderated by UCLA Professor Hal Ackerman on DIRTY GIRL's journey from script to screen!
Official Selection, 35th Toronto International Film Festival (2010)
Official Selection, 2011 Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale)
Official Selection, Outfest 2011: 29th LA Gay & Lesbian Film Fest
"Temple is vixen enough to carry the part, but manages to project a real wit burning beneath the layers of makeup and dumb-blonde shtick her character affects around others. At 21, she takes the jailbait edge off the role, and her accent is good enough that few would guess she's from the U.K. As Clarke, Dozier is a real discovery, with a genuine, John Ritter-like charisma beneath those extra pounds. Watching him transform from creepy cafeteria lurker to charismatic star is one of the film's great pleasures."- Peter Debruge, VARIETY
"Period production values abound, especially with a totally '80s soundtrack informed by the Melissa Manchester songbook (she also contributes some fresh tunes) but also crammed with nuggets by fellow '80s divas Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Sheena Easton and Belinda Carlisle, whose "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" is given an amusing interpretation courtesy of motel Magic Fingers."- Michael Rachtshaffen, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"Set in 1987 and featuring a knockout of-the-era soundtrack that will send fortysomethings into a transport of nostalgia, Dirty Girl should have no difficulty connecting with upscale teen audiences – and their parents." - Mike Goodridge, SCREEN DAILY
WRITER and DIRECTOR: Abe Sylvia
CAST: Juno Temple, Jeremy Dozier, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy
The Weinstein Company
35mm, 90 minutes
