BWFF: American Woman

BOSTON WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL

Written and Directed by Semi Chellas w/ Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, Lola Kirke, John Gallagher Jr., Ellen Burstyn, David Cubitt (Canada, 2019, 87 min)

Adept at living off the grid ever since she masterminded an act of violence against the American government, 25-year-old former radical Jenny Shimada (Hong Chau) agrees to take care of three fugitives who are on the run. One of them, the kidnapped granddaughter of a wealthy newspaper magnate (Sarah Gadon), has become a national celebrity for embracing her captors’ ideology and joining their revolutionary cell. Semi Chellas (Mad Men, The Romanoffs) makes her directorial debut with this fictional account of the real-life woman who spent time with heiress Patricia Hearst after she was abducted. — Description courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival.