screening no. 6: the dish and the spoon - aug 7

THE DISH AND THE SPOON (2011) 

A film by Alison Bagnall 

In "The Dish and the Spoon," which had its world premiere as part of the Emerging Visions section of the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, a young woman (Greta Gerwig) is spiraling out of control after having discovered her husband has cheated on her with a woman she knows. At a diner, she meets a waifish young man (Olly Alexander) who is another seemingly lost soul, having come to America from England chasing a girl who promptly dumped him. Each in the pair, a genuine odd couple, finds solace and support in a person who is more or less a stranger.

Directed and co-written by Alison Bagnall, perhaps best known as co-writer (alongside Vincent Gallo) of "Buffalo 66," the project came together quickly at the end of 2009-- Bagnall wrote "The Dish and the Spoon" specifically for her two lead actors, with the setting an out-of-season seaside Delaware vacation town.

Enlisting current indie stalwarts Eleonore Hendricks and Amy Seimetz (who is also credited as a producer), Bagnall rounded out her cast and crew. Rather than the ironclad vision of some filmmakers, Bagnall was interested in turning the production process into one of discovery and was especially open to the input of her lead actors as to where they thought the story should go. Actress Greta Gerwig, who began her career collaborating with "mumblecore" pioneers Joe Swanberg and the Duplass Brothers, is rapidly becoming a national treasure.