“The Roads Not Taken” has found an alternate road to U.S. audiences in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sally Potter’s latest was released in New York and Los Angeles on March 13, but mandatory theater closures soon followed, so the drama was unable to expand. A press release from Bleecker Street announced that a virtual screening program is in the works for the Berlinale title. The distributor is partnering with Laemmle, Cinepolis, Studio Movie Grill, Bow Tie, and CMX, among others to host screenings nationwide.
Written and directed by Potter, “The Roads Not Taken” follows a day in the life of Leo (Javier Bardem) and his daughter, Molly (Elle Fanning), who struggles to make sense of her father’s chaotic mind. Salma Hayek co-stars.
Potter has revealed that becoming responsible for the care of a close friend who became unable to speak and her younger brother contracting early onset dementia and having communication difficulties inspired her to make “The Roads Not Taken.” “They both passed on in the same time of the year,” she explained. It was following the intensity of those experiences and across a very long preoccupation with the nature of the mind that led me to start thinking about how I could use some of the things that I had learned. Bearing witness to these people that I had loved and turn it into a story that might be relevant and recognizable to others.”
Asked whether “The Roads Not Taken” was her most personal film to date, Potter suggested that “all films are personal. If you’re writing something, it has to spring from something that means something very deeply to you,” she observed. “And I’ve done that to varying degrees with the films that I’ve made. I’ve always tried to transpose very personal experiences into other shapes and forms. I have never wanted to do something directly and clearly autobiographical, even when they’ve been interpreted that way. So in this case, I deliberately transferred those experiences into a father-daughter relationship. They are not siblings, and it’s a completely different character with absolutely different issues in his life, with even a different country and different language. I took it many steps away from the experiences of my brother, whilst maintaining the authenticity of the experience of somebody living with that illness.”
“The Roads Not Taken” is set to launch April 10. Screening the film will “cost audience members $12 for a three-day viewing window with revenue being split between the distributor and exhibition partners,” the press release details.
“While we were looking forward to bringing the film to theaters across the country, this new approach helps us to share Sally’s vision with audiences while also supporting our exhibition partners during this difficult time,” said Jack Foley, Bleecker Street’s President of Distribution.
“The Party,” “Orlando,” and “Yes” are among Potter’s other credits.
