Shawney calls himself a filmmaker, but he’s been a strip-club manager for longer. When he was six his father bought “The Manor”, a small-town strip club.
Thirty years later, the family’s lifestyle has got the better of them. While his 400-pound father prepares for stomach-reduction surgery, his 85-pound mother has her own complicated relationship with food. Shawney’s role as struggling filmmaker and outcast son provides a rare glimpse into a family facing the consequences of their livelihood and dependence.
Told with humor and frankness, The Manor is an intimate portrait of people struggling to call themselves a family.
“There’s more than a faint echo of ‘Grey Gardens’ in this Canadian-gothic portrait of an unusual family business.”
Variety
“The Manor… [rises] to the ranks of some of the best family portrait documentaries.”
Indiewire
“in the vein of Capturing the Friedmans and Crazy Love”
Filmmaker Magazine
“78 minutes rich with character, incident, friction, deadpan humour and voyeuristic thrills.”
The Globe & Mail
***Opening Night Film – Hot Docs***
***Official Competition – Karlovy Vary – Winner, Honorable Mention Best Documentary***
***Official Competition Opening Night – Zurich***
***Official Competition – Woodstock – Winner, Best Editing***
***Official Selection – Bergen***
***Official Selection – Goteborg***
***Official Selection – DOCNYC***
***Official Selection – Antenna***
***Official Selection – DMZ***