In appreciation for the love the city showed the film, the movie's writer, director and producer Thom Fitzgerald has announced Sudbury made the list of 12 Canadian cities launching the film this month.
“Sudbury has a great movie audience,” Fitzgerald said in an email to Northern Life. “I saw the film with a Sudbury audience, so I know they have a romance with this film.
"Cinéfest is such an important stop on the Canadian festival circuit because its audience is an audience of real authentic movie lovers. Also, maybe they love an old lady talking dirty in Sudbury. That's probably it.”
The film, which stars Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker and Ryan Doucette, tells the story of an elderly lesbian couple who escape from their nursing home and head up to Canada to get married.
Along the way, they pick up a young, male hitchhiker.
“I would have been very happy if the film only played to elderly lesbians,” Fitzgerald said. “That it has excited all kinds of audiences in dozens of countries and different cultures around the world is a surprise, yes. That it has won audience awards not just around the world, but right across Canada (is rewarding) because I think of Canada as a nation of many cultures.
"A Halifax crowd, Montreal crowd and a Victoria crowd have always seemed like very different kinds of people to me, but in this case, there has been a universal appreciation. Gay or straight. It's a nice feeling.”
Cloudburst is playing at Rainbow Cinemas March 8 to March 14 at 7 p.m. nightly.
For more information, search Cloudburst, the film - Limited Engagement in Sudbury on Facebook.
