The selection of Sophie Hyde’s drama 52 Tuesdays in the world cinema dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival in January isn’t the only platform for the project at the festival.
The web and smart phone-based companion project My 52 Tuesdays will screen in Sundance’s New Frontier program. The festival describes the sidebar as a social and creative space that showcases media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences and panel discussions.
Shot in Adelaide each Tuesday for a year, the film stars Tilda Cobham-Hervey as 16-year-old Billie, whose mother (Del Herbert-Jane) reveals she plans to change her gender. The producers are Rebecca Summerton’s Closer Productions, Cormack, Hyde and Bryan Mason.
My 52 Tuesdays is a collaboration between Closer Productions and experience design company Sandpit. It’s a touring photo-booth, web and smart phone-based project following participants' responses to a year-long series of questions. Participants are asked one question each Tuesday for a year, write their answers on any surface and take a photo of it.
They can choose to respond to the question or not and to share their response or to keep it private, ultimately making it an exercise about choice.
The project launched on in October at the Adelaide Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere, and was commissioned by the AFF and the South Australian Film Corporation.
"We are thrilled to be having our international premiere at Sundance," Hyde tells IF. "With support from the SAFC's innovative Filmlab program and the Adelaide Film Festival, it’s been remarkable that we have been able to make a film in such a unique way and we can’t wait to show it to audiences around the world.
"Alongside the film, our companion project My 52 Tuesdays has been invited to the New Frontier program, meaning we will be asking our audiences to be part of the work in a meaningful way. This was a risky and all-consuming film to make and the Sundance selection is great recognition of the commitment and bravery of our wonderful team.”