Something tells us if you were to ask Radha Blank a year ago, she would still be talking about her feature debut more than 12 months following its 2020 Sundance Film Festival debut, she wouldn’t have believed you. Then again, maybe she had great foresight and would have. Whatever the case, it’s February 2021, and, partially due to a pandemic awards season push, “The Forty Year Old Version” is still racking up honors.
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Blank’s semi-autobiographical story is one of those films that receive solid reviews in Park City but resonates even more so with critics and audiences when it’s released to the general public months later. Since the picture’s debut on Netflix, Blank has earned a Spirit Award Nomination for Best First Feature, won the Gotham Award for Best Screenplay, and won LAFCA‘s New Generation Award, among other accolades. Oh, and all those trophies go next to the Directing Award she won from the Sundance Grand Jury in January of 2020. As Oscar season rolls on, Blank could potentially earn an original screenplay nomination, but we think her best bet is a DGA Award First Time Feature Film nomination.
READ MORE: Radha Blank Arrives With The Impressive ’40-Year-Old Version’ [Sundance Review]
In the meantime, Blank sat down with Netflix to discuss how she balanced her roles as the screenwriter, director, and star of her feature debut. You can watch it in the embedded video, which Netflix has graciously provided to The Playlist exclusively.
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“The Forty Year Old Version” is available worldwide on Netflix.