Hilary Brougher Movies
Hilary Brougher, who viewed Fellini films and other European films from age four, began shooting her Super-8 movies at age 14. She continued with short films in high school, which brought her a full scholarship to New York City's School of Visual Arts. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
A frightened and irresponsible girl and an emotionally conflicted woman are brought together under tragic circumstances in this independent drama. Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl who while on a school-sponsored ski trip collapses in a puddle of blood; a medical examination reveals that Stephanie has recently given birth, and in a nearby bathroom a newborn child is found dead, flushed down a toilet with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. While Stephanie insists the child was stillborn and she had no idea she was pregnant, she is charged with killing the infant, and court-appointed psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is assigned to interview the teenager. Lydie has her own issues with possible parenthood; she's been struggling to have a child after a recent stillbirth, and the matter is taking a toll on her marriage, with her husband, Paul (Timothy Hutton), seeking solace in the arms of another woman. As Stephanie shares with Lydie her feelings about her relationship with her parents, how she lost her virginity, and her growing conviction that God gave her a child as a form of punishment, Lydie finds herself dealing with her own feelings about the child she lost. Meanwhile, Right to Life and Pro-Choice groups threaten to turn Stephanie's trial into a media circus. Stephanie Daley premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, (more)
Writer-director Hilary Brougher, during a four-week Super-16mm shoot, made her directorial debut with this low-budget time-travel tale about '50s journalist-novelist Tucker Harding (Terumi Matthews), author of The Sticky Fingers of Death. Transported from 1950 Brooklyn to the present, Tucker meets Drew (Nicole Zaray), who's just ended her relationship with used bookstore clerk Dex (Leo Marks). In the store, Drew stumbles across a copy of Tucker's novel and is intrigued to find, inside the book, a newspaper clipping describing Tucker's death 40 years earlier. Hilary Brougher describes this as "a story of two women, both New York area writers...entangled in non-linear time travel. There's virtually no special effects, so it's all in the head. The challenge is to make the audience believe that you're moving back and forth in time. And film, of course, lends itself to time travel." Shown at the 1997 Venice and Toronto film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terumi Matthews, Nicole Zaray, (more)
