A trailer has landed for “My Art,” Laurie Simmons’ feature directorial debut. The spot for the drama kicks off with a scene all-too-familiar to those who have chosen to pursue a career in the arts. Ellie Shine (Simmons), a struggling artist, is shown catching up with another artist significantly younger and more accomplished than she. Meryl, played by Simmons’ daughter, Lena Dunham, says, “I have to be in Europe between my two installations. Then I’ve got the fall show at my New York gallery. I wouldn’t schedule a fall show again. I think it’s brutal.” “Oh, that sounds brutal,” Ellie unconvincingly agrees, clearly envious of the opportunities Meryl is getting.
And Ellie doesn’t just have to hear about Meryl’s successes — she has to tell the wunderkind what she’s up to. While Meryl travels around the world showing her art, Ellie will be housesitting. She’s been offered the summer home of a famous friend and “seizes the opportunity to hit the reset button on her life and work,” the film’s official synopsis details. “She unwittingly finds inspiration in two out-of-work actors who maintain the gardens at her summer retreat: Frank (Robert Clohessy), a recent widower trying to reassemble his life, and Tom (Josh Safdie), a hungry young actor whose wife (Parker Posey) has a less ambitious vision for their idyllic country life. Joining them is John (John Rothman), a divorced lawyer looking for a summer distraction. This unlikely trio accompanies Ellie on an odd and delightful journey toward finding her late-blooming artistic momentum.”
The trailer shows Ellie pursuing a new project. She and her pals re-create iconic film scenes. “You can never be Clark Gable,” Ellie tells Frank. “I can never be Marilyn Monroe. I just want to see what it looks like.”
“My Art” premiered at the 2016 Venice Film Festival and will make its North American debut at the Tribeca Film Festival April 22.
“I’d imagined the character of Ellie for a long time and at a certain point I would say she started telling me her story,” Simmons told us in a soon-to-be published interview. She explained, “I’ve spent a lot of time observing both portrayals of artists and representations of women my age on-screen and feel that both often fall short of what I feel to be accurate and true to the life I’ve experienced.”
Simmons previously helmed the 2006 short “The Music of Regret,” a musical starring Meryl Streep. Her career as a photographer and artist spans over 40 years.
No word on when “My Art” will hit theaters or VOD. Check out the trailer below.
