Patricia Clarkson and filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro on the “pathos” in “Monica,” about a dying mother and her trans daughter – Deadline Screening Series

Andrea Pallaoro Monica, The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and is the moving story between an older child and an estranged dying mother, played by trans actress Trace Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) and Oscar nominee/three-time Primetime Emmy winner Patricia Clarkson.

Monica (Lysette) returns home to help her brother and his family with their mother, who has dementia. The mother does not recognize her new visitor, but feels comfortable letting him participate in the care process. Monica really wants to tell her mother Eugenia, but can’t. But the two, each dealing with their own daily turmoil, eventually discover a new sense of grace and innocence, free of prejudice and past toxicity. The film explores themes of abandonment, aging, acceptance and redemption.

“It was not lost on me that a major transgender actress would finally lead a film in our industry and that this role would challenge me in unparalleled ways,” Clarkson said during the virtual screening of “Deadline.” Monica to get into position.

“As actors we love our words, our bodies and our physicality and I had none in this role; “The pathos in this film was everything to me,” adds the actress, who took on the challenge of playing an elderly woman facing her last days.

“The experience, the trauma, of not being seen or accepted as one is plays a fundamental role in our sense of identity and our relationship with the outside world,” says Italian-born filmmaker Pallaoro, who directed the film wrote together. with his partner Orlando Tirado.

“Monica’s story is truly a paradigm for understanding the complexity and dynamics of what this means; It’s something we can all relate to,” adds Pallaoro.

After Pallaoro wrote the script, it took him a year to find the right actress to play the title character.

Speaking about working with Lysette and how the actress “transformed” the entire set, the director told Deadline: “She bought us into Monica’s emotional world with such specificity, authenticity, depth and complexity and she really sets the tone on for this specified film.”. would be immediate.”

Clarkson adds, “This is why this film transcends classification: it is about all forms of family and life and about forgiveness and unconditional love, the purest form of love, but the one that is the most difficult to achieve in our lives.”

Monica won the Arca CinemaGiovani Award for Best Italian Film from Venice. Lysette was nominated for Best Lead Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards Monica. Additionally, DP Katelin Arizmendi’s film was nominated for a Spirit in the Best Cinematography category.

Monica by IFC is available to stream on AMC+ and to buy and rent digitally.