Haifa International Film Festival
05-14.10.25
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    3. JT LeRoy

    JT LeRoy

    Panorama

    Dern brings a hungry, manic energy to Albert... while Stewart's performance is typically interiorised and exacting

    THE OBSERVER
    • Archive - Festival 35
    • Director: Justin Kelly
    • Canada, USA, United Kingdom 2018
    • 108 minutes
    • English
    • Subtitles in Hebrew

    Laura Albert writes tough, insightful fiction under a pseudonym, JT LeRoy. Her JT is not just a pen name but a whole persona, a teenage boy from West Virginia living a dangerous life as a truck stop sex worker. Readers love it. The media loves it. And they eagerly demand JT in person until Laura's sister-in-law Savannah dons a wig and sunglasses, adjust her voice, and become the teenage boy author.

    The captivating true story, based on Savannah Knoop’s memoir, enjoys two very fine central performances by Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern.

    Filmography:  Welcome the Stranger (2018), Am Michael (2015).

    • Director Justin Kelly
    • Production Patrick Walmsley, Julie Yorn, Thor Bradwell, Gary Pearl, Cassian Elwes, Giri Tharan, Mark Amin, Dave Hansen
    • Script Justin Kelly, Savannah Knoop
    • Cinematography Bobby Bukowski
    • Editing Aaron I. Butler
    • Music Tim Kvasnosky
    • Festivals Toronto
    • Actors Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Courtney Love, Jim Sturgess, Diane Kruger
    • Source United King Films, Ramat Hasharon