Tarnation
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jonathan Caouette
Layard Thompson
Joshua Williams
Vivian Kalinov
Renee Leblanc
Vanda Stovall
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Part documentary, part narrative fiction, part home movie, part acid trip. A psychedelic whirlwind of snapshots, Super-8 home movies, old answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, snippets of '80s pop culture, and dramatic reenactments to create an epic portrait of an American family travesty. The story begins in 2003 when Jonathan learns that his schizophrenic mother, Renee, has overdosed on her lithium medication. He is catapulted back into his real and horrifying family legacy of rape, incest, abandonment, promiscuity, drug addiction, child abuse, and psychosis. As he grows up on camera, he finds the escapist balm of musical theater and B horror flicks and reconnects to life through a queer chosen family. Then a look into the future shows Jonathan as he confronts the symbiotic and almost unbearable love he shares with his beautiful and tragically damaged mother.
Director
Jonathan Caouette
Cast
Layard Thompson
Joshua Williams
Vivian Kalinov
Renee Leblanc
Vanda Stovall
Rosemary Davis
Michael Sillery
Lisa Berri
Adolph Davis
David Sanin Paz
Greg Ayres
Steve Caouette
Jonathan Caouette
Caity Creitz
Stacey Mowery
Michael Mouton
Miek Coccia
Sterling Price Mckinney
Michael Cox
Daniel Letterle
Apocalypse Clown
Kellie Brisbane
Crew
Vanessa Arteaga
Greg Ayres
Jason Banker
Lisa Berri
Jim Black
Kellie Brisbane
John Califra
John Califra
Jonathan Caouette
Jonathan Caouette
Jonathan Caouette
Jonathan Caouette
Steve Caouette
Jan Chalupecky
Apocalypse Clown
Miek Coccia
Michael Cox
Caity Creitz
Adolph Davis
Rosemary Davis
Marie Therese Guirgis
Lora Hirschberg
Vivian Kalinov
Brian A Kates
Renee Leblanc
Daniel Letterle
Max Lichtenstein
Sterling Price Mckinney
John Cameron Mitchell
Michael Mouton
Stacey Mowery
David Sanin Paz
Shelby Siegel
Michael Sillery
Vanda Stovall
Layard Thompson
Gus Van Sant
Joe Violante
Ryan Werner
Ryan Werner
Joshua Williams
Stephen Winter
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the 2004 award for Best Documentary by the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC).
Winner of the 2004 award for Best New Filmmaker by the Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC).
Winner of the 2004 Target Documentary Award at the IFP/Los Angeles Film Festival.
Winner of the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the 2004 London Film Festival.
Released in United States Fall October 6, 2004
Released in United States October 15, 2004
Released in United States on Video May 17, 2005
Released in United States 2004
Released in United States January 2004
Released in United States June 2004
Released in United States October 2004
Released in United States 2010
Shown at London Film Festival October 20 - November 4, 2004.
Shown at IFP/Los Angeles Film Festival June 17-26, 2004.
Shown at New York Film Festival October 1-17, 2004.
Shown at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival (Ripping Reality) April 29-May 9, 2010.
Mr. Caouette began filming himself with a super-8 camera when he was a child and finished "Tarnation" in 2003 on a laptop computer, using ordinary consumer-grade editing software. His initial production costs were $218.
Film consists of the accumulation of 160 hours of material shot on Super-8, Betamax, VHS, Hi-8 and Mini-DV.
Released in United States Fall October 6, 2004
Released in United States October 15, 2004 (Los Angeles)
Released in United States on Video May 17, 2005
Released in United States 2004 (Shown at London Film Festival October 20 - November 4, 2004.)
Released in United States January 2004 (Shown at Sundance Film Festival (Frontier) January 15-25, 2004.)
Released in United States October 2004 (Shown at New York Film Festival October 1-17, 2004.)
Released in United States 2010 (Shown at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival (Ripping Reality) April 29-May 9, 2010.)
Released in United States June 2004 (Shown at IFP/Los Angeles Film Festival June 17-26, 2004.)
