For its latest selection, the Chinook Film Group will be hosting a screening of The Sessions, to be featured March 20 at the Cochrane Movie House.
Based on the autobiographical Mark O’Brien article, “On seeing a sex surrogate,” from a 1990 issue of The Sun Magazine, The Sessions tells the tale of O’Brien’s quest to lose his virginity. John Hawkes plays O’Brien, a polio sufferer with an iron lung, who hires a sex surrogate, played by Helen Hunt, to help him on his mission. Another A-list actor, William H. Macy, plays O’Brien’s priest and confidante.
“It wasn’t intended to be our theme,” said Murray Mitchell, spokesperson for the film group. “It’s the humanity that is expressed in the film that captured me. It’s a very endearing film.
“When I saw the approach to the subject, I knew I had to share it.”
Directed by Ben Lewin, the film has been a fixture on the awards circuit this past season, with Best Actor nominations to Hawkes and Best Supporting Actress nominations for Hunt (including an Oscar nod). Both were named the winners in these categories at the Independent Spirit Awards 2013.
In Alberta, The Sessions is rated 18A for sexual content.
The film is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Java Jamboree and Video Experts.
