The Communist's Daughter
The Communist's Daughter is a Canadian comedy web series, which premiered on CBC Gem in 2021.[1] Set in the 1980s, the series stars Sofia Banzhaf as Dunyasha McDougald, the teenage daughter of communist activist parents Ian (Aaron Poole) and Carol (Jessica Holmes) McDougald; after the family moves to a new neighbourhood, she falls for school jock Marc (Kolton Stewart) despite being an outsider in her new school's social hierarchy, only for her father to mount a municipal council campaign against incumbent councillor Rod Bigmann (Chris Locke), Marc's father.[2]
The cast also includes Ryan Taerk, Nadine Bhabha, Zoe Cleland, Vieslav Krystyan, George Stroumboulopoulos, Neema Nazeri, Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz, Nadine Whiteman Roden, Sandra Battaglini, Jacob Soley, Shaina Silver-Baird and Jesse Camacho.[3]
The series was created by Leah Cameron, incorporating some aspects of her own real upbringing in the 1980s.[1] It was funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign in early 2019,[4] and went into production in the fall.[3] It was released on CBC Gem in March 2021.[5]
Critical response
John Doyle of The Globe and Mail praised the series as "a very droll farce that really has no point apart from fun, frolics, jokes about the 1980s and the ineffable struggle of a teenage girl who wants to fit in but is held back by her communist parents. It doesn’t make a blind bit of sense but that’s fine. It’s deranged enough to detain you for a splendid escape."[2]
Freelance television critic Bill Brioux gave the series "mixed Marx", writing that the series reminded him of his own experience making low-budget community channel comedy programs for Maclean-Hunter in his youth and praising the fact that Cameron got the opportunity to make it, but stating that he wished it was funnier. He further wrote that "it is so apples and oranges, but I also can’t help but compare this series to Never Have I Ever, an exceptional Netflix sitcom that premiered last year featuring Mississauga teen Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. It is also a fish out of water story set in high school, a clash of Indian culture and Americana. To be fair, The Communist’s Daughter was probably made for the craft services budget on Never Have I Ever."[6]
Awards
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Screen Awards | 2022 | Web Program or Series, Fiction | Lauren Corber, Leah Cameron, Natalie Novak Remplakowski | Nominated | [7] |
| Lead Performance, Web Program or Series | Jessica Holmes | Nominated | |||
| Supporting Performance, Web Program or Series | Nadine Bhabha | Nominated | |||
| Zoe Cleland | Nominated | ||||
| George Stroumboulopoulos | Won | [8] | |||
| Direction, Web Program or Series | Leah Cameron | Nominated | [7] |
The series also won 20 awards from web series festivals throughout 2021, and was named the winner of the 2021 Web Series World Cup as the most awarded web series of the year.[9]
References
- Etan Vlessing, "‘Communist Daughter’ Director on Uber-Left Comedy, Socialism and Marxism: 'They’re Worth Fighting For'". The Hollywood Reporter, December 9, 2021.
- John Doyle, "Great farce material: Having fun with communism". The Globe and Mail, March 17, 2021.
- Lauren Malyk, "LoCo expands digi slate with The Communist’s Daughter". Playback, November 8, 2019.
- Greg David, "The Communist’s Daughter seeks glorious support to reach its Kickstarter goal". TV, eh?, February 19, 2019.
- Greg David, "CBC Gem’s The Communist’s Daughter a funny peek at the 80s in all its excess". TV, eh?, March 19, 2021.
- Bill Brioux, "The Communist’s Daughter gets mixed Marx". Brioux TV, March 19, 2021.
- Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
- Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards: Winners Announced In Sports Programming, Digital & Immersive Categories". ET Canada, April 5, 2022.
- Kelly Townsend, "LoCo Motion takes the podium for The Communist’s Daughter". Playback, December 13, 2021.