Cultures clash and comedy ensues when two families are introduced to their prospective in-laws in Director Laura Terruso’s comedy, About My Father.
Terruso’s film tells the story of Sebastian, who is encouraged by his fiancée to bring his old-school Italian immigrant father Salvo to a weekend get-together with her super-rich and exceedingly eccentric family.
On June 15, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Terruso discussed the making of About My Father during a Q&A moderated by Director Paul Weitz (Moving On) who also served as a producer of the film.
During the conversation, Terruso revealed how she expressed her personal connection to the subject during her pitch for the project. “I had dreamed up the vision for the entire movie. I talked about my personal connection, about my Sicilian mother. I talked about how I saw it, references, wardrobe, production design — I mean every aspect of directing the film. I had such a clear vision for it, and I wanted it so badly because it felt so personal. I say this often — this is the most personal/universal film I will probably ever make. When we were shooting everything was so intuitive with the camera. I knew I wanted to shoot it formally, kind of like classic American cinema, or a Depression Era comedy.”
Terruso’s other directorial credits include the feature films Fits and Starts, Good Girls Get High and Work It; and episodes of I Want My Phone Back and Dickinson. She became a DGA member in 2019.