“Frighteningly close to reality. Four Out of Four Stars. ”
THE RUMBLE
SYNOPSIS
A puppet animation told a la VH1’s Behind the Music, Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity from American Popular Culture charts the rise and fall of fictional child star Junie spoon’s career as her life is splashed all over the media and recounted by those who claim to know her - a greedy record producer, a narcissistic mother, an opportunistic friend, ex-boyfriends and the like - until she is inevitably eliminated from her own story. Made entirely in her studio apartment with only a couple c-stands as crew, the debut feature film of writer/director Nicole Brending will have you in painful laughter as the film blatantly ignores political correctness in a bold, no-holds-barred look at the insidious mechanisms governing misogyny in America. With hand-made puppets and original pop songs, you will be (guiltily) singing along to Junie’s tragically true tale.
The film had its world premier at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, and its North American Premier at Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature and Nicole Brending won the Spirit of Slamdance, a prize given to a filmmaker that the other filmmakers believe best represents the spirit of the festival. Other screenings included the Lucca Film Festival in Lucca, Italy where it won Best Feature with Rutger Hauer presiding over the jury, Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival in Switzerland, Lodderbast Cinema in Hannover, Germany, Film Maudit in Los Angeles, and the Chicago Underground Film Festival as the Closing Night Film. Support was provided by the Jerome Foundation and the McKnight Foundation. Distributed by Rock Salt Releasing.
“My fiancé laughed harder than I did. It’s not a feminist puff piece – its vulgar, unapologetic, and equals in opportunity to take down our disgustingly disposable society. I am very excited to align the Rock Salt brand with Brending’s highbrow sense of humor and penetrating perspectives.”
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what critics are saying
”Dollhouse puts a very unforgiving funhouse mirror on our society and its commodification of women’s bodies. It pulls no punches in it’s lampooning of American culture… I hope that this film gets a big audience on the festival circuit this year.” FILM THREAT
”It’s wicked, intelligent, so damn relevant yet mind-blowing…Brending’s film is the only piece you should be concerned about and must not be missed.” MOVIE MOVES ME
“While I'm used to a long history of transgressive humor from male artists, there are moments in Dollhouse that make Trey Parker and Matt Stone look almost refined. I can't wait to see what Ms. Brending has for the future.” COFFEE COFFEE AND MORE COFFEE
“Vital and alive. It is a film that anyone who thinks they can suffer the slings and arrows of an in your face assault on how you think should see…One of the most important films at Slamdance and of 2019 as well.” UNSEEN FILMS
“The most outrageous attack on the hegemonic, capitalist cultural system that both created and destroyed Junie Spoons vilifies superfandom and obsession with celebrity in a way that made me wildly uncomfortable, but that I also admired for its audacity, especially because of how brashly it skewered the often-unacknowledged and tacitly accepted phallogocentrism of mainstream culture.” CINE-FILE CHICAGO
“Modern audiences are not ready for Dollhouse, but they need to watch it. The film is deceptively powerful ...” POP AXIOM
“The supposed adoration of teen pop stars reveals a scarier obsession and downright hatred, where a woman cannot own her own body, cannot make her own choices, cannot simply be.” FEMFILMFANS
DOLLHOUSE wins grand jury prize AT 25TH SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
“Dollhouse wasn’t like any other film at the festival or any festival. It was outrageous, bold, hilarious. We’re also giving it the grand prize because we think it really embodies the spirit of the Slamdance.”
read the variety aNNOUNCEMENT here.
director Nicole Brending featured in Arte’s series “Tracks”
Parlez-vous francais? Nicole Brending interviewed by Arte alongside… Aphex Twin and M.I.A???!!!! Mais biensur.
Still from the set of Dollhouse | Photo: Nicole Brending
interview with minneapolis star tribune about making dollhouse
Chris Hewitt spent a day in Nicole’s studio hearing what she had to say about the challenges of being a woman in the entertainment industry and how sometimes you gotta do it yourself.
Read full article HERE.
ADDITIONAL PRESS
CULLED CULTURE APPARENTLY READ MY MIND
Read the longest and most thorough review HERE.
ANIMATION XPRESS CHIMES IN ON DOLLHOUSE
Sharmindrila Paul and Nicole discuss Ibsen’s ‘Doll House’ and the non-existent female perspective. Read the full interview HERE.
POPAXIOM INTERVIEW NOW UP
Nicole had a great chat with Ruben Diaz over at PopAxiom where they discussed ‘Dollhouse’ and the lost era of punk rock 90’s Independent cinema. Read the full interview HERE.
CRITICAL MOVIE CRITICS INTERVIEW
Nicole talks to Vincent Gaine about the challenges of making ‘Dollhouse’ and of being the messenger everyone wants to shoot. Read the full interview HERE.
the federalist interview is up and at ‘em
Nicole spoke with Paulina Enck of The Federalist about the trials of being a child star, music videos of the late 90’s and why her film "'Dollhouse” is so controversial. Read the full interview HERE.
indie rock star distributor rock salt releasing picks up dollhouse
Read the Deadline announcement HERE.
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