Competition

PLAYING HOUSE




Country of production: USA
Year: 2003
Language: English
Mins: 75

Director: Jane Gray
Cinematography: Jane Gray
Editing: Shayna Casey
Sound: Jane Gray
Producer: Jane Gray
Production company: Purple House Productions
Source: Jane Gray
Purple House Productions
11 Vassal Lane
Cambridge, MA 02138
USA
Phone: +1 617 497 8723
janegray@purple-house.co
www.purple-house.com

PLAYING HOUSE is a compelling and funny vérité documentary that presents a portrait of five seventh- and eighth-grade girls during their first year at Fay School, the oldest junior boarding school in America. The film takes place primarily in the dormitory the girls share where we watch their everyday lives unfold as they make friends and enemies, have their first dates, and sleep with stuffed animals. Through a series of intimate vignettes, PLAYING HOUSE follows the girls from September, when their parents kiss and hug them good-bye, to June, when their good-byes to each other are surprisingly teary given the rocky year they've shared.

Amanda, an overweight girl with acne from Minnesota, seems out of place in this privileged setting. Orphaned and sent away to learn manners, Amanda faces many challenges to fit in with the skinny rich girls around her. As she begins to dominate the dorm, one is torn between cheering her on and being astonished by her disregard for others. In particular, Amanda has it in for Joanna, a petite, blonde goody-two-shoes who seems to have it all. Perfectly poised and composed, Joanna is more comfortable pleasing adults and playing with dolls than worrying about cliques, clothes, or boys. Joanna's roommate Lucia, from Mexico, is caught in the middle. Over the school year, these girls negotiate brutal social interactions and cope with cultural and class differences, growing up while far away from home.

Jane Gray is an associate of Harvard University's Film Study Center. She has worked as an editor for Errol Morris.

filmography as director
PLAYING HOUSE (2003)

Director & Producer Jane Gray in person!

Saturday 10-Apr-2004 3:00 PM Facets Cinematheque