Memoir of a Snail
Memoir of a Snail
Memoir of a Snail
Memoir of a Snail

Memoir of a Snail

Unclassified 15+
Program Strand/s: Australian Films

MIFF recommends this film as suitable for ages 14+. Contains mental health and sexual themes.


Sarah Snook lends her voice alongside Kodi Smit-McPhee, Magda Szubanski, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver in the stunning second claymation feature from Oscar winner Adam Elliot, which won Annecy’s Cristal Award for Best Feature Film.

Her life may be a mess, but Grace Pudel (Snook, Succession; Predestination, MIFF 2014) does derive pleasure from three things: her snail collection, romance novels and her guinea pigs. As children, she and twin brother Gilbert (Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog; Slow West) eked out a modest existence with their paraplegic father, a has-been performer gripped by alcoholism and grief after their mother’s death. When he, too, passes away, the siblings are split up by child services: Grace is sent to Canberra, and Gilbert, to Perth. Isolated and depressed, Grace retreats behind a carapace – much like her snails – and fills her emotional void through compulsive hoarding. That is, until she finds a fourth source of joy: a friendship with outrageous octogenarian Pinky (Weaver, Animal Kingdom; Silver Linings Playbook).

This exquisitely hand-crafted stop-motion wonder from the auteur behind the multi-awarded feature Mary and Max, Oscar-winning short Harvie Krumpet (MIFF 2003) and AFI-lauded short Ernie Biscuit (MIFF 2015) is an affecting coming-of-age tale like no other. As it traces one downtrodden young woman’s journey to overcome loss and embrace herself, this bittersweet yet uplifting film also unfolds as a family saga across 1970s Australia on an intimate scale. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Memoir of a Snail is an indelible reminder that while the turmoil of life may force us into our shells, all it takes is a little bravery to break free.

“Elliot is a master of the art of gallows humour, and this appealing ‘clayography’ is as hilarious as it is heart-wrenching … A tale of a woman who refuses to be defeated by misfortune.” – Screen Daily


SUPPORTED BY
Premiere Fund logo
 


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Director Adam Elliot is a guest of the festival and will be in attendance at all metropolitan Melbourne sessions of the film. He will also appear in Very Animated: Life in Clay, Ink & CGI on Friday 23 August.

Tickets

10 Aug 1:15pm ACMI 1
Access: Assistive listening Audio Description Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 6:30pm Village Cinemas Shepparton
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 6:30pm Village Cinemas Morwell
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 6:30pm Village Cinemas Geelong
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 7:00pm The Pivotonian Cinema Geelong
Access: Assistive listening Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 7:00pm Paramount Cinemas Echuca
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 7:10pm Peninsula Cinemas Rosebud
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
16 Aug 8:00pm Star Cinema Bendigo
Access: Assistive listening Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session
21 Aug 9:00pm Hoyts Melbourne Central Cinema 10
Access: Assistive listening Wheelchair Accessible Open Captioned
Past Session
Past Session
25 Aug 2:00pm Theatre Royal Castlemaine
Access:
Past Session
Past Session
25 Aug 6:30pm The Astor Theatre
Access: Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session

For information about the accessible services being offered at MIFF, please visit miff.com.au/access. If you require any access service, such as wheelchair/step-free access, for any MIFF session, please call 03 8660 4888 or email boxoffice@miff.com.au to book your ticket.

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