Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning will star in the cross-generational drama “20th Century Women.”
Set in California in the late ’70s, the film finds three women — a single mother (Bening), a punk photographer (Gerwig) and a precocious teen (Fanning) — pitching into raise a boy and share with one another their perspective on life.
“These three characters are all women that I knew growing up” said writer-director Mike Mills (“Beginners”). “I’m thrilled to have Annette, Greta and Elle, three incredible actresses who will bring an authenticity and vulnerability to each of these very strong, funny and complicated roles.”
Megan Ellison, Anne Carey and Youree Henley will produce, while Annapurna’s Chelsea Barnard will executive produce.
Here’s the PR synopsis for the film:
Set in Santa Barbara during the summer of 1979, “20th Century Women” tells the story of Dorothea Fields, a mother who’s trying her best to raise her teenage son, Jamie. Navigating life and love, sex and freedom, men and women isn’t easy as Dorothea looks for answers from two other remarkable women in her life. Each from a different era of the 20th century, these three women seek to find what it means to be a man and help set Jamie on the right course. Filled with punk-rock verve, “20th Century Woman” takes a humorous and heartfelt look at how we figure out who we are.
Bening will play iconoclastic mother Dorothea, who finds herself raising punk teenager Jamie alone in the chaotic world of 1979. Gerwig will play Abbie, a young sophisticated photographer submersed in the punk culture of the era who is forced to return to her home town and ends up living with Dorothea and Jamie. Fanning will pay Julie, a 16-year old smart and secretively provocative friend of Jamie’s who challenges Dorothea’s understanding of love, learning valuable lessons about life in the process.
