Q-Fest Preview: Cloudburst

Q-Fest kicks off at Museum of Fine Arts Houston Thursday night when the Southwest Alternative Media Project partners to bring award winning director Thom Fitzgerald‘s third feature Cloudburst to town. SCR was lucky enough to get a screener of the fest opener last week, and we loved it.

In fact, in a perfect world, Olympia Dukakis would win another Oscar for her role as the foul-mouthed, shit-talking, septuagenarian Stella. She and the film have already won numerous awards all over the world. Brenda Fricker plays sweet, blind Dottie, Stella’s partner for 31 years. Dottie’s manipulative granddaughter thinks Dottie should be in a home, so the two hit the road, bound for the Great White North from their home in Maine, knowing their marrying is possible in Nova Scotia.

They pick up a hitchhiker, Prentice, and they share road-movie adventures, laughter, and sadness. Everyone learns something, and the film is so casually and simply told that the audience should learn just as much as the characters. Dukakis effortlessly elevates the whole thing beyond any road-movie stereotypes. Everyone around her steps up their game, and the movie is better for it. As Stella tells us: “Every now and then you have just a really good day, and you need to hold onto it with both hands. Like a dick.”

Bring tissues. And tequila.

Cloudburst is written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald. Starring Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker and Kristin Booth. Running Time 93 minutes.

[Cloudburst screens Thursday, July 26th, at 7PM at the MFAH, as part of Q-Fest, the GLBTQ Film Festival of Houston. Special ticket price: $10 general admission, $8 students, seniors, MFAH and Q-Fest members.]