My Love Affair with Marriage

My Love Affair with Marriage
Original Poster
Directed bySigne Baumane
Written bySigne Baumane
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
  • Signe Baumane
  • Sturgis Warner
Music byKristian Sensini
Animation by
  • Signe Baumane
  • Yajun Shi (Biology animation)
Layouts bySigne Baumane
Production
companies
  • Studio Locomotive
  • The Marriage Project
  • Antevita Films
Distributed by
Release date
  • June 11, 2022 (2022-06-11) (Tribeca)
Running time
108 minutes
Countries
  • Latvia
  • United States
  • Luxembourg
LanguageEnglish

My Love Affair with Marriage is a 2022 semi-autobiographical adult animated musical comedy-drama film animated, written and directed by Signe Baumane, her second feature following Rocks in My Pockets (2014). The story follows a young woman, Zelma, on her 23-year quest for perfect love and lasting marriage, set against a backdrop of historic events in Eastern Europe. Pressured by Mythology Sirens to be the ideal woman and is unable to free herself from the biology of her own brain, Zelma finds love and loses it multiple times before discovering who she really is. Told from a female point of view, this is a coming-of-age story of love, gender, marriage, abuse, hopes, fantasies, and ultimately, finding a better place for women in society.

An international co-production of companies in Latvia, the United States and Luxembourg, the film took seven years to complete. Kristian Sensini of Italy composed 24 songs and wrote the score. Yajun Shi of China animated the Biology sections. Dagmara Dominczyk[1] voices Zelma, with executive producer Matthew Modineas being one of Zelma's husbands.[2]

My Love Affair with Marriage had its world premiere at Tribeca Festival on June 11, 2022[3] and went on to screen at many other international festivals. It won a Jury Distinction for a Feature Film award at Annecy International Animation Film Festival,[4] an Excellence in Narrative Directing award at Woodstock Film Festival,[5] Best Feature Film awards at both Viborg Animation Festival[6] and Fredrikstad Animation Festival[7] and was nominated for a European Film Academy Award,[8] the first Latvian film to do so. Huffington Post named it as "one of the best movies of 2022."[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McNary, Dave (2017-02-01). "'Stranger Things' Star Matthew Modine Joins Animated Film 'My Love Affair With Marriage' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Nikkhah Azad, Navid (2022-06-19). "Annecy Festival announces 2022 award winners". www.deed.news. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  5. ^ Morfoot, Addie (2022-10-02). "'Last Flight Home,' 'As Far as They Can Run' Take Top Nonfiction Honors at Woodstock Film Festival 2022". Variety. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  6. ^ Team, Z. F. (2022-10-03). "'My Love Affair With Marriage', 'Sierra' Win at Viborg Animation Festival 2022". Zippy Frames. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  7. ^ Sarto, Debbie Diamond (2022-10-28). "Sander Joon's 'Sierra' Takes Grand Prix at 2022 Fredrikstad Animation Festival". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  8. ^ Barraclough, Leo (2022-12-10). "Ruben Östlund's Satire 'Triangle of Sadness' Triumphs at European Film Awards". Variety. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  9. ^ "21 Movies That Moved Us This Year". HuffPost. 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-26.