Potato Dreams of America
Director & Writer: Wes Hurley
Producer: Vicky Berglund-Davenport, Daryle Conners, Sue Corcoran
Cast: Jonathan Bennett, Dan Lauria, Lea DeLaria, Lauren Tewes
USA, 2021, 95 min, English with Hebrew subtitles
Festivals & Awards:
L.A. Outfest 2021 – Winner of Outstanding Screenwriting
SXSW Film Festival 2021
Seattle International Film Festival 2021
Deauville American Film Festival 2021
Provincetown International Film Festival 2021
Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival 2021
Wes Hurley was born as Vasili Naumenko in Vladivostok. He enriched his childhood’s world with American 80’s films, and when he moved with his mother to Seattle at the age of 16 it didn’t take him long to come out of the closet and become a movie maker. Now he’s retelling his life story in a campy, melodramatic and wonderfully stylish manner.
Sensitive Vasili grows up in homophobic, conservative Russia. He uses imagination to overcome his anxieties with the help of Jesus Christ , who gives him advice, a tough grandmother and a loving mother who works as a doctor in prison, and whose opinions the authorities dislike very much. After the family escapes to the USA, Vasili’s mother marries a local man who has his own secrets.
Hurley manages to tell a fairytale story in a surprising and unique cinematic way, aided by the actors of the local Seattle theatre, burlesque artists and precise musical and wardrobe choices.
“Potato Dreams of America” is a funny and inspiring cinematic celebration, full of good vibes and great love for the woman who raised him and the city that adopted him.
Visit TLVFest website at:
tlvfest.com
