Institute History
Description
THANKSGIVING DAY follows four different families who are strangers living on the same L.A. block – African American, Latino, Vietnamese, and Jewish – in an Altman-esque film which turns “family values” on its head in order to uncover what makes a contemporary American family.
At first the families pass each other at traffic lights, supermarket aisles and school parking lots, not realizing they have more in common than what separates them. Once established, each family begins to merge and we forget about their differing backgrounds and become involved in their stories. Like all family life, the film moves effortlessly from humor to tragedy and back.
Ronald, a spin doctor for a conservative candidate for governor, heads the Williams: a picture-perfect black family. His wife Audrey lays on an immaculate spread for their WASP guests – only to have their family façade crumble as their estranged son, an African American Studies major, turns up and refuses to play along.
Anthony Avila is determined to have a traditional family dinner, even though his philandering Dad has left his Mom. Now Dad wants to come back and begs his son to help him. It’s the perfect occasion to get them back together. Besides, his Mom’s not getting any younger. What never occurred to them is that Mom might be “knockin’boots” in the house with a secret lover.
The Seeligs, desperate for more grandchildren, look to their only daughter for that special announcement, only she makes another instead. Their hopes are dashed, until she adds that coming out doesn’t mean she’s not pregnant. She is, but her father Herb can’t work out how the turkey baster figures in all this.
Ever since Trinh Hguyen made America her home, she feels like she’s losing her kids. But finding condoms in her daughter’s jacket is the least of her worries, her sons are hiding much more. One’s got a gun under his bed and the other’s sneaking down the block to spend Thanksgiving with an outsider – a Latina girlfriend who turns out to be the Avila’s daughter.
THANKSGIVING DAY presents a world where race is not problematised. It’s a truly reflective film about America that looks ahead with hopefulness – a new vision of people living together in Los Angeles, instead of killing each other.
With playful storytelling in an ensemble style, the film interweaves the families as they come together in celebration of the great American tradition. It’s a frank, timely story where secrets are disclosed, skeletons are uncovered, and out of the emotional chaos unexpected alliances are formed.