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Oh-Be-Joyful

Director
Susan Jacobson

Screenwriter
Kayleigh Llewellyn

Producer
Katie Campbell

Contact email
susan@pistachio.co.uk

Release date
2015

Format
ShortRecent Addition

Genre(s)
DramaComedyLesbianLGBTQ

Synopsis
Rita is about to kick the bucket, but before she does she’s got one final job to do: drag her granddaughter out of the closet. Sophie (Katie Llewellyn) is a full-time, live-in carer for her terminally ill Grandmother, Rita (Sheila Reid). Rita is no fool; she knows what’s what. She knows that Sophie is closeted and punishing herself, and Rita will be damned if she leaves this world before she’s helped her granddaughter come to terms with her sexuality. And it’s this decision to drag Sophie out of the closet that leads to Rita reveal some longheld secrets from her own past, not least her penchant for stealing. In a moment of reckless abandon, Rita coerces Sophie to the local supermarket to teach her how to shoplift, and in the process, how to learn to let go. A bag of tangerines and a clove of garlic later they’re fleeing from the store. It's a disastrous getaway, and they are caught red-handed. But something has changed in Sophie. Rita has managed to awaken something in her granddaughter that she just wasn’t able to find on her own: acceptance. 13 mins, UK

Submitted by
Iris Prize