Vengeful mother Celia Lane (Rebecca De Mornay, right) tries to buy a gun from a street girl (Colleen Rennison) in American Venus. (TVA Films)

Shooting match

Vancouver director Bruce Sweeney talks about his new film, American Venus

After producing a trio of low-budgets films (Live Bait, Dirty and Last Wedding), Vancouver director Bruce Sweeney decided he wanted to go big. The result is American Venus, an exploration of mother-daughter relationships and the culture of the gun. The film follows a gun-toting American mom (Rebecca De Mornay) who becomes unhinged when her college-age daughter runs off to Canada. Sweeney spoke to CBCNews.ca about roping in a marquee actor like De Mornay, challenging assumptions about Americans and the creative rewards of low-budget films.

By Greg Buium, CBC News.ca

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