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Seventeen year old Ellie comes out to her mother in a very blunt manner, and her mother is stunned by her daughter's out and proud attitude. Ellie wants to ask her classmate Abbie to the formal, but is reluctant and nervous about doing so. On her journey of summoning the courage to ask Abbie out, or
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said the performances from a predominantly LGBTQ cast were "heartfelt" and contributed to the film possessing a "sense of immediacy and warmth". Maunier went on to say that
Zanetti's "compassion and empathy" permitted her to provide a film that is "light-hearted without being dismissive, poignant
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that the play's constructive response persuaded her to adapt it into a film. However she had a stipulation that the film feature, at a minimum, a fifty per cent LGBT cast. When she went looking for funding for the project, she was swiftly met with resistance from skittish distributors and sales
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on 13 February 2020, becoming the first
Australian film to do so in the festival's 27-year history. It also won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film at the festival. The film went on to screenings at several other film festivals, and had a limited theatrical release on 19 November 2020.
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in the alternative, being rejected, she gets advice from her living Aunt Patty, and is also being advised by her deceased Aunt Tara, an LGBT rights activist who died in the 1980s. Aunt Tara doesn't want to be called a ghost though, but rather a 'fairy' godmother.
311:; "If you want to have a queer cast that's fine but you need to surround that with famous people to have a chance". Frustrated by the lack of funding, she realised that alternative funding was her only choice, so Zanetti relied on a
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Stephen
Russell said the mostly female cast and crew which has, "significant LGBTQIA+ representation is refreshing...as is the decision to sidestep well-worn trauma tropes, while not shying away from typical teenage crises".
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that all the actors "give fine performances", but one of the film's "shortcomings" was the sound not being "as clear as it should be". He also noted the ending is a "bit awkward", as Abbie turns up at the formal wearing
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said
Zanetti "doesn’t focus on tired fish-out-of-water comedy...and she finds humour in how extremely ordinary it is for Ellie to come out in 2020 and how universally awkward teenage crushes remain".
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said the movie "bucks the usual clichés of stories about queer teens: there's no angsty coming out, no conflicted reckoning about being gay...it's just a family-friendly queer romantic comedy.
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strategy to raise $ 50,000 for a production budget. That amount was matched by
Creative Partnerships Australia's Match Lab program. They went to work on the film, and after making a
343:. It then had a limited theatrical release on 19 November 2020, where it grossed $ 4,547 in its opening weekend. The films worldwide gross at the box office was only $ 19,940
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The film had its world premiere on 13 February 2020 as the first
Australian feature to open the Mardi Gras Film Festival in its 27-year history. It had a screening at the
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film written and directed by Monica
Zanetti, in her feature directorial debut. It is based on her own 2016 stage play. The film stars Sophie Hawkshaw,
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without being preachy...and she skillfully weaves together comedy and drama to tell a beautiful, affirming story of young love". Robert Moran of
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gave the film four out of five stars and said "the banter between Abbie and Ellie deserves to go down in the annals of the
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in August 2020, three additional screenings in
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716:"Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) review – delightful and distinctive queer romcom"
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2020 Australian LGBT romance comedy film written and directed by Monica
Zanetti
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The film is based on
Zanetti's 2016 independent stage play. She told
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537:"The Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) trailer comes out"
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New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival
646:"'Nitram' and 'The Newsreader' lead 2021 AACTA award winners"
583:"Film Review: Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)"
559:"Mardi Gras Film Festival opens with Aus lesbian rom-com"
697:"Movie review / Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie's Dead Aunt)"
625:"Review: 'Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)'"
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601:"Ellie and Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)"
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557:Russell, Stephen A. (13 February 2020).
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535:Cinema Australia (27 January 2020).
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623:Maunier, Sean (18 October 2020).
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288:Bridie Connell as Miss Trimble
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378:Special Broadcasting Services
838:2020s English-language films
359:and was also nominated for "
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166:13 February 2020
517:The Sydney Morning Herald
399:The Sydney Morning Herald
303:The Sydney Morning Herald
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833:2020 LGBTQ-related films
671:"Winners & Nominees"
422:List of Australian films
361:Best Original Screenplay
285:Julia Billington as Tara
264:Sophie Hawkshaw as Ellie
243:Mardi Gras Film Festival
873:2020s Australian films
351:The film won the 2021
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389:Sean Maunier of LGBT
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524:on 14 February 2020.
384:Screen Hub Australia
321:Cannes Film Festival
291:Randall Hua as Jamie
858:Films set in Sydney
375:and riding boots".
225:award winning LGBT
701:Canberra City News
609:. 18 October 2020.
368:Canberra City News
347:Critical reception
341:Reel Affirmations
307:agents. She told
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64:by Monica Zanetti
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680:22 February
655:22 February
353:AACTA Award
268:Zoe Terakes
231:Zoe Terakes
87:Zoe Terakes
69:Produced by
41:Directed by
35:Film poster
828:2020 films
822:Categories
564:SBS Movies
433:References
309:The Herald
221:is a 2020
207:Box office
186:82 minutes
170:2020-02-13
137:Production
49:Written by
788:Australia
194:Australia
120:Edited by
416:See also
412:genre".
373:jodhpurs
339:and the
282:as Patty
276:as Erica
270:as Abbie
250:Synopsis
210:$ 19,940
199:Language
128:Music by
77:Starring
57:Based on
774:Portals
606:NewFest
327:Release
202:English
191:Country
168: (
153:Arcadia
139:company
410:romcom
812:LGBTQ
767:QNews
675:AACTA
223:AACTA
800:Film
745:IMDb
682:2024
657:2024
355:for
259:Cast
765:at
754:at
743:at
650:NME
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
