The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center will host the Rhode Island premiere of “Mermaid,” a SXSW selection, on Friday, June 12, with a special in-person appearance by the film’s star, actor and comedian Johnny Pemberton.
After the screening, Pemberton will join a live onstage discussion and audience Q&A moderated by Rhode Island filmmakers the Kinnane Brothers, known for “Water Brother” and “Solo Mio.” The conversation offers audiences a chance to hear about the making of one of the year’s more distinctive independent films.
Directed by Tyler Cornack, “Mermaid” blends creature feature, tragic romance and offbeat comedy. Pemberton stars as Doug, a struggling Florida man at rock bottom whose life shifts when a desperate trip into the Gulf leads him to discover an injured mermaid. He takes the creature home, names her Destiny, and nurses her back to health as an unlikely bond forms between the two outsiders, until word of his secret companion begins to spread.
Cornack has described the film as “my absurdist love letter to Florida,” a place he called “beautiful and hideous simultaneously.” The film has drawn attention on the festival circuit for its mix of comedy, creature-feature thrills and emotional resonance.
The screening begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and additional information are available at janepickens.com.
