Tara Wray's SXSW '06 audience award winning doc Manhattan, Kansas will be on tour in the South in October, DVD available now from the filmmaker.
For tour dates check here.
Here's the intro to the film from the Southern Arts Federation web site:
" When she was nineteen years old, director Tara Wray fled her childhood home of Manhattan, Kansas after her mother, in a mentally unstable state, threatened to kill her. “My mother was my entire life,” she says, “But, we were always running from her demons, both real and imagined.” Her mother’s undiagnosed emotional and mental state terrorized Wray for years. “One minute she was Mom—funny, tiny, strong, a pleasure to be around. Mom,” recalls Wray, “Then she was Not-Mom—scary, dark, shrunken, yet huge. I spent my whole life trying to anticipate which one was present, which one might show up next. It made me a pretty tightly-wound kid.” Following five years of estrangement, Wray knew it was time to go back – with her camera."
Here's a little of what Chuck Tryon has to say about the movie:
"During one of the final scenes of Tara Wray's observant autobiographical documentary, Manhattan, Kansas (IMDB), Tara's mother, Evie, seeking forgiveness for being an irresponsible parent or simply trying to understand herself, tells her daughter, "The past is over." Of course, as William Faulkner reminds us and as Wray's film illustrates, "The past isn't dead, it isn't even past." The scene, for me, underscores the ways in which Manhattan, Kansas offers a fresh and understated consideration of the concepts of family and home through its unblinking look at the strained relationship between Wray and her mother."
Read the rest of Chuck's review here.
The DVDs of Manhattan, Kansas come with hand painted cases/personalized inscription, cost: only $15 (including shipping). Here's the website for the film.
- Sujewa
For tour dates check here.
Here's the intro to the film from the Southern Arts Federation web site:
" When she was nineteen years old, director Tara Wray fled her childhood home of Manhattan, Kansas after her mother, in a mentally unstable state, threatened to kill her. “My mother was my entire life,” she says, “But, we were always running from her demons, both real and imagined.” Her mother’s undiagnosed emotional and mental state terrorized Wray for years. “One minute she was Mom—funny, tiny, strong, a pleasure to be around. Mom,” recalls Wray, “Then she was Not-Mom—scary, dark, shrunken, yet huge. I spent my whole life trying to anticipate which one was present, which one might show up next. It made me a pretty tightly-wound kid.” Following five years of estrangement, Wray knew it was time to go back – with her camera."
Here's a little of what Chuck Tryon has to say about the movie:
"During one of the final scenes of Tara Wray's observant autobiographical documentary, Manhattan, Kansas (IMDB), Tara's mother, Evie, seeking forgiveness for being an irresponsible parent or simply trying to understand herself, tells her daughter, "The past is over." Of course, as William Faulkner reminds us and as Wray's film illustrates, "The past isn't dead, it isn't even past." The scene, for me, underscores the ways in which Manhattan, Kansas offers a fresh and understated consideration of the concepts of family and home through its unblinking look at the strained relationship between Wray and her mother."
Read the rest of Chuck's review here.
The DVDs of Manhattan, Kansas come with hand painted cases/personalized inscription, cost: only $15 (including shipping). Here's the website for the film.
- Sujewa
