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Potato Dreams of America (18*)

Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest 2021 (Captioned)

A man dressed as Jesus opens his arms in a still from Potato Dreams of America

Writer/director Wes Hurley's autobiographical dark comedy begins life in a beautifully staged and lit USSR.

The young Potato and his single mum Lena, are struggling to survive during the turbulent years
of Perestroika. Whilst living under conditions of poverty, violence and state control, Lena and Potato escape through a fantasy world of pirated American movies.

But soon the movies are not enough and Elena, desperate to keep her son out of the Russian Army, decides to become a mail order bride and the pair escapes to America. The story takes us through many twists and turns, as the young potato comes of age in the not-so-free USA, where he discovers immigrant life in the west can be equally surreal and challenging. Beautifully made and containing ingenious cameos from Aaron Samuels (as a campy Jesus) and Lea Delaria, the surreal comedy moments in this unique story create a both charming and gripping film.

US 2021 Dir Wes Hurley 96 min

This screening is shown with Hard of Hearing (HOH) captions. 

Warning: this film contains instances of domestic abuse, murder in prison, homophobic and antisemitic slurs/bullying. 

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Barbican Cinema 2