Festivals - Sundance Film Festival 2021 : Amy Tan : unintended memoir will have its world premiere

By Mulder, 12 december 2020

Literary titan Amy Tan analyzes her life, her work, and her family—in the present and past tense—in this longitudinal biopic directed by James Redford. As Tan traces her childhood through The Joy Luck Club and her later compositions, she dissects issues of representation, multigenerational trauma, and the stigma and challenge of illness. Forcefully matrilineal in focus, this film moves through generations of Tan’s family, revealing listening as the heart of Tan’s creative practice and contextualizing the patience with which Tan broke through barriers and waited on the other side, welcoming the world to join her.

This, the late James Redford’s final film, epitomizes his filmmaking talent, treading with great empathy into the life story of another and leaving telltale signs of a directorial vision both crystalline and warm. Perfectly implementing the generative listening Tan highlights so deliberately, Redford is responsive and engaged in this dimensional portrait of one of the most important writers in contemporary fiction.

Synopsis :
A look at the life and work of author Amy Tan.

Amy Tan : unintended memoir (USA)
Directed by James Redford
Produced by Karen Pritzker, Cassandra Jabola
Executive Producer : Michael Kantor
Line Producer : Suzanne Debrunner
Starring Amy Tan
Music by Kathryn Bostic
Cinematography : John Behrens
Edited by Jeff Boyette
Assistant Editor : Ilana Rappaport
Sound Designer : Bob Edwards
Animation : Xaviera Lopez
Distributed by KPJR Films
Release date : February 3, 2021 (Sundance)
Running time : 101 minutes

Premiere : feb. 3 - 12:00am // Second screening : feb. 3 - 4:00pm (local time)

(Source : press release)