COLAGE Partners with American Primitive Film

For immediate release
December 3rd, 2008
COLAGE is pleased to partner with Cape Cod Films on their new project American Primitive.

American Primitive was written and directed by Gwen Wynne, an adult COLAGEr, who has created a beautiful narrative film based on her own experiences with her father coming out to her and her sister in the 1970s.
“Rarely do youth and adults with LGBTQ parents get to see our lives reflected authentically on the Hollywood screen” commented Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director. “We are so proud to support this project that illustrates the coming out story of one family through the eyes of a COLAGE adult, Gwen Wynne. Especially in a time when our families are being debated and voted against across the country, films like American Primitive help portray the genuineness, the love, and the struggles of our families.”
“I wish COLAGE existed when I was growing up. It’s an incredible organization with a mission I very much believe in. I’m thrilled that the film American Primitive and our production company Cape Cod Films is partnering with COLAGE to bring this movie’s story and its ultimate theme of love and acceptance to people throughout the world,” shared Gwen Wynne, the director and writer of the film.
The exciting ensemble cast feature talents including Susan Anspach (Five Easy Pieces, Play It Again Sam); Adam Pascal (Rent); Tate Donovan (The O.C., Damages); Stacey Dash, (Clueless); Josh Peck (The Wackness, Drake & Josh); and James Sikking (Ordinary People, Hill Street Blues).
Shot on location and set in the early 1970’s Cape Cod, American Primitive addresses the conflicting issue of place of family and same-sex relationships in our culture. This seminal issue is still with us today—witnesses the heated demonstrations that have taken place all over the U.S. since the November 4 elections protesting laws prohibiting same-sex marriages.
Told mostly through the eyes of high school student Madeline who, along with her widower father, Harry, and younger sister, move to the Cape. Madeline’s emotional journey parallels the country’s loss of innocence and a time period when American society was redefining its national identity as well as personal views. Gender and sexual identity preoccupied the citizens of America. Like many in the country, Madeline and Harry, daughter and father, find themselves tackling ideas of sex and identity – topics that seemed to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue in the early 70s but were actually still taboo in both traditional familial and personal settings.
Ms. Wynne reflected, “I wrote American Primitive because I had never seen or heard a story about growing up in a gay household from a teenage girl’s perspective. With the film I tried to create a story that ultimately underscores the complex meaning of love and friendship and family. I’m hoping the film will shed light on a very emotional issue that so many people in our country shroud in silence and shame.”
The film completed its first run of test screenings on Cape Cod last month at Cape Cinema in Dennis, MA. Stay tuned for information about special screenings for the COLAGE community in Boston on December 18th at Harvard Law School and San Francisco and the film’s upcoming debut at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer parents. We build community and work toward social justice through leadership development, youth empowerment, education and advocacy. www.colage.org
American Primitive is a new upcoming release from Cape Cod Films. Cape Cod Films, LLC is a film production company that has been created to champion emerging filmmakers and tell stories that are often suppressed in our culture – both narrative and documentaries. Its mission is to challenge audiences with the essential questions of our time. www.capecodfilms.com