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Sean Baker's STARLET explores the unlikely friendship between 21 year-old aspiring actress Jane (Dree Hemingway) and elderly widow Sadie (Besedka Johnson) after their worlds collide in California's San Fernando Valley.

Jane spends her time getting high with her dysfunctional roommates and taking care of her chihuahua Starlet, while Sadie passes her days alone, tending to her garden. After a confrontation at a yard sale, Jane finds something unexpected in a relic from Sadie's past. Her curiosity piqued, she tries to befriend the caustic older woman. Secrets emerge as their relationship grows, revealing that nothing is ever as it seems.

Featuring exceptional debut performances by Dree Hemingway (great granddaughter of Ernest and daughter of Mariel) and 85 year-old Besedka Johnson, who received a Special Jury Recognition at SXSW, Starlet is at once provocative, haunting, unpredictable, and surprisingly sweet.

Film Independent Spirit Awards 2013 - Robert Altman Award Recipient, and First Prize Winner at the Locarno International Film Festival 2012.

Running Time

104 mins

Year

2012

Kanopy ID

1140269

Filmmakers

Sean Baker

Features

Besedka Johnson, Dree Hemingway, James Ransone, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve

Languages

English

Subjects

Movies > Independent Cinema

Movies > Drama

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