Little Mother Lies

  • Director

    Amanda Deering Jones

  • Country, Year, Length

    United States, 2024, 14:26

  • Category

    Narrative Short

  • Format

    Alexa Mini

  • Festival Year

    2025

Synopsis

While Dorie and her sister look for common ground over bowls of borscht, her son fights withdrawals and plans a stealthy escape. The chasm between the sisters grows to the point of no return as one single-mindedly protects her son and the other drinks her way back to the 1980s.

Film Screening & Ticket Information

When & Where to See this Film!

…COMING SOON…

Film Information

From the Director

Director Statement

This story unfolds on a pivotal evening in the lives of a pair of sisters, one of whom has just taken an extreme risk to save her son. They see their dilemma from the point of view of third-generation exiled Russian aristocrats. The mother fights to break loose from this archaic culture, but her sister clings to its warped values and alluring avoidance of reality.

As we connect with these characters and their guards come down, we become aware of some deeply held assumptions about the origins of substance abuse and our current approaches to treatment. We see the consequences of the one-size-fits-all system through the suffering of this family. They elicit our compassion and help us realize that inflexibility has no place in a system that so often fails the people who depend on it.

This short was produced in partnership with Of Substance, an organization that champions new perspectives on the subject of addiction. It is also a proof of concept for the feature Mother Lies.

Director Biography

Amanda Deering Jones is the director of the short film, Little Mother Lies, based on the feature film Mother Lies. She is also the Producer of the Academy Award nominated, animated short film Borrowed Time. She has over 20 years of experience working with Dreamworks Animation, Blue Sky Studios, and currently at Pixar. Her recent projects include Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, Dug Days, and the first full-length series from Pixar, Win or Lose. She is also currently in various stages of development on several live-action feature films and television series. Raised in Ohio, Honduras and Florida, Amanda earned a degree in Theatre from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. Her career began in Cooperstown, NY as House Manager at Glimmerglass Opera before transitioning to film. Amanda loves to sing and has performed in choirs at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She’s a zero-waste advocate and a published writer for the Producer’s Guild Magazine, “Going Green — Animated about the Environment: Pixar’s Sustained Effort to Go Green.” She is an active member of the Producers Guild of America, Women in Film, NYWIFT, Women in Animation and a Governor for The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Northwest Chapter Board.

Credits

    • Amanda Deering Jones
      Director
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1771096/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
    • Kitty Edwinson
      Writer
    • Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
      Producer
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946705/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_in_0_q_gwen%2520whittle
    • Stephanie Röst
      Producer
    • Amanda Deering Jones
      Producer
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1771096/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
    • Alex Kaplan
      Producer
      https://www.ofsubstance.org/
    • Pascale Roger-McKeever
      Key Cast
      “Dorie”
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2226212/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_6_in_0_q_Pascale%2520Roger-
    • Emilie Talbot
      Key Cast
      “Marinka”
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0847904/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_8_in_0_q_Emilie%2520Talbot
    • Elliott Thomas West
      Key Cast
      “Owen”
      https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2374378/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1