The Company of Strangers


The Company of Strangers is a Canadian film, released in 1990. It was directed by Cynthia Scott, and written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wilson and Gloria Demers. The film depicts eight women on a bus tour, who are stranded at an isolated cottage when the bus breaks down.
Created in a genre defined as docufiction, semi-documentary/semi-fiction, the film is not tightly scripted. The writers wrote a basic story outline but allowed the eight women to improvise their dialogue. Each of the women, all but one of whom were senior citizens, told stories from her own life. A major theme of the film is how the elderly women each face aging and mortality in their own way, and find the courage together to persevere.
At various points throughout the film, a montage of photos from each woman's life is shown.

Cast

Home media

The DVD was released on December 7, 1999 by First Run Features as Strangers in Good Company. The back of the DVD cover states: "The original Canadian title, "The Company of Strangers" is on the DVD. In every other way it is the exact same film."

Reception

Accolades

The film won the Best Canadian film award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Grand Prize and Interfilm awards at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival in 1990.

Popularity

Mary Meigs wrote a book about her experience in making the film, In the Company of Strangers.