FAIRYLAND

By Andrew DURHAM

AMERICAN ZOETROPE/DECENTRALIZED PICTURES - as PROD

LGBT - Completed 2022

Set against the backdrop of San Francisco's vibrant cultural scene in the 1970s and '80s, chronicling a father-daughter relationship as it evolves from an era of bohemian decadence to the heartbreaking AIDS crisis. Based on the best-selling memoir Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father

Festivals
& Awards

Sundance Film Festival 2023
Premieres
    • Year of production
    • 2022
    • Genres
    • LGBT, Experimental
    • Countries
    • USA
    • Languages
    • ENGLISH, FRENCH
    • Duration
    • 114 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Andrew DURHAM
    • Synopsis
    • Following the sudden and tragic death of her mother, young Alysia is uprooted by her father Steve in hopes of restarting his life. They move to 1970s San Francisco where Steve develops his poetic and personal writing and begins to openly date men. Steve’s bohemian lifestyle clashes with the expectations of parenthood from both the outside world and Alysia herself, who occasionally wishes for less of the independence her father gives her. As Alysia grows into a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, their bonds and duty to each other are tested in painful and sudden ways.

      Based on Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir and elegantly told by writer-director Andrew Durham in his debut feature, Fairyland is a film about a family unique for its time but instantly recognizable. Actors Scoot McNairy and Emilia Jones beautifully capture the complex mix of fealty, embarrassment, and pride that are part of any father-daughter relationship, but especially one set in 1970s and ’80s San Francisco with its indelible legacy of loss and love.