Dina (2017)
90%RT Audience Score: 82%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Dina presents a clear-eyed and uncommonly detailed view of one couple’s relationship, offering insights as broadly illuminating as they are compassionate.
Dina is a heartwarming and hilarious documentary that follows the lives of a middle-aged autistic couple, Dina and Scott. The filmmakers do an excellent job of capturing the couple’s daily routines and journeys, painting a picture of their emotionally dappled lives. The film is sweet without being sappy, and it extends an uncommon empathy to two characters that colder films (and people) would treat as a punchline. Dina is a story about resilience and a woman’s indomitable will to seek out her best life, but it’s also a rom-com that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm,
Distributor
The Orchard
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2017
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:1h 41m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 6, 2017 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 9, 2018
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, mental disability, Asperger’s syndrome, relationship, eccentric, outspoken, directed by Antonio Santini, directed by Dan Sickles, produced by Antonio Santini, produced by Dan Sickles, reviewed by Brad Newsome, reviewed by Charles Bramesco, reviewed by April Wolfe, reviewed by Bruce DeMara, reviewed by Tim Grierson, reviewed by Rahul Desai, reviewed by Stephen Saito, reviewed by Daniel Barnes, reviewed by Steve Erickson, reviewed by Pat Padua, Dina Buno, Scott Levin, Frank Costanzo, Jeannie Levin, Jenny Osborne, Lisa Mai, box office gross $90.9K, MPAA rating N/A, Pad Man, Menashe, The Young and Prodigious T.S Spivet, Te Ata, Right Now, Wrong Then, actor, actress, director, producer, writer, budget, critic, genre, relationship drama, mental health, disability, love story, compassion, empathy, poignant, tender, humorous, candid, raw intimacy, artifice, Woody Allen-esque, anxiety, neuroses
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Scott Levin – self
Frank Costanzo – self
Jeannie Levin – self
Jenny Osborne – self
Lisa Mai – self
Antonio Santini – director, producer
Dan Sickles – director, producer
Director(s)
Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (58) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (57) | Rotten (1)
Filmmakers Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles mostly let the couple’s routines and journeys paint their own emotionally dappled picture.
April 2, 2020
Brad Newsome
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Sweet without being sappy, the film extends an uncommon empathy to two characters that colder films (and, as we see, people) would treat as a punchline.
December 14, 2017
Charles Bramesco
AV Club
TOP CRITIC
Dina is a story about resilience and a woman’s indomitable will to seek out her best life.
November 30, 2017
April Wolfe
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
There are moments of humour in a gently affecting story that celebrates the ordinariness of its subjects.
November 3, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Bruce DeMara
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
Co-directors Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles tell the story gracefully, doling out Dina’s tragic backstory in excellent increments.
November 3, 2017 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brad Wheeler
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
… the tableau-style presentation succeeds in embedding us with the film’s subjects, letting viewers see the bond between Dina and Scott that, although sometimes brittle, stubbornly endures.
October 27, 2017
Tim Grierson
Paste Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The result might be a poignant, morally ambiguous and awkwardly engaging love story – replete with the knowledge that this is just another brave month in her life.
March 1, 2019
Rahul Desai
Film Companion
In telling their story in such a beautiful way, Sickles and Santini seem to realize how precious what Dina and Scott have before they do, but then again, it’s hard not to fall for Dina, or her film.
November 1, 2018
Stephen Saito
Moveable Fest
There is a rare mix of raw intimacy and artifice to Dina, with obvious camera set-ups and movie-like music cues but also amazing moments of tenderness, humor and candor.
October 29, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
Daniel Barnes
Dare Daniel
… a film about the universal drama of watching a relationship mature.
August 27, 2018
Steve Erickson
Gay City News
We live in an anxious age of irony and increasing rancor, and if earnest antidotes seem too easy to dismiss, just try to resist Dina, a documentary about a middle-aged autistic couple. It may be the year’s best documentary, and the best rom-com.
August 27, 2018
Pat Padua
DCist
Initially starting as a charming portrayal of American eccentrics, with a dose of Woody Allen-esque humour riddled by anxiety and neuroses, the film eventually grows more depth as it explores a topic rarely discussed in society.
May 9, 2018
Alistair Ryder
Film Inquiry…
Plot
It’s 1992. Young Dina lives in a remote mountain village where life is strictly governed by centuries of tradition. Dina’s grandfather has promised her to David, who is returning from the war. But with him comes a comrade-in-arms, the handsome Gegi, and Dina falls in love. Is it possible to defy the firmly established order?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
Antonio-Santini.jpg
