19-25 January
2026
A has-been porn star returns to his hometown, trying to make ends meet by exploiting everyone in his way. Director Sean Baker (The Florida Project) gives us a humanistic, funny and direct portrait of an outsider - who no one really wants to see back in town.
Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) is on the bus on his way back to his hometown in Texas – a place he left years ago to become a porn star in L.A. His career is over and he wants to piece his life back together again... by manipulating his ex-wife Lexi and her mom to allow him into their house. Mikey is in many ways a despicable character, but in Sean Baker's refined direction he becomes a human being with a certain charm. When he meets the teenager Strawberry who's working at a local donut shop, he sees an opportunity to use his ways to get back to old, unfortunate habits.
An international film festival audience has warmed up to Sean Baker's raw and humanistic portraits of unruly outsiders in Tangerine and The Florida Project. With Red Rocket we are confronted with a washed-up but entertaining porn star, who exploits everyone he thinks he can benefit from. This funny and timely drama is shot on beautiful 16mm and 35mm film, bathing the southern USA in realistic, but colorful summer lights.
Sean Baker (b. 1971) is an American director born and raised in New Jersey. In 2015 he attracted attention with his rowdy comedy Tangerine, shot on three iPhone 5S smartphones. His next film, The Florida Project, was included in the Directors' Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and Willem Dafoe was nominated for Best supporting Actor for his role in the film at the Academy Awards.
2017 The Florida Project
2015 Tangerine
2012 Starlet
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Programme: | Competition |
Director: | Sean Baker |
Country: | USA |
Year: | 2021 |
Run time: | 2h 10m |
Screenplay: | Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch |
Photo: | Drew Daniels |
Cast: | Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Suzanna Son |
Dialogue: | English |
Producer: | Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Alex Saks, Shih-Ching Tsou |
Source: | UIP |