Georgia is a 1995 American independent film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mare Winningham. Leigh plays Sadie Flood, a punky barroom singer who has a complicated relationship with her older sister, Georgia, played by Winningham. Georgia won the Grand Prix of the Americas Award for Best Picture at the Montreal World Film Festival. Leigh received Best Actress honors at the Montreal World Film Festival and the New York Film Critics Circle for her performance, while Winningham received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Academy Awards and from the Screen Actors Guild. Plot Georgia Flood is a successful, talented and well-adjusted folk music singer who is happily married and a mother of two. Her younger sister Sadie is passionate but self-destructive and lacking in technical skill. She tries to match Georgia's accomplishments by becoming the lead singer for a punk rock band, but is unsuccessful and destroys herself through drug abuse. Sadie comes to Georgia seeking help after she ends a relationship. An initially reluctant Georgia tries to help her sister out of a continued downward spiral. Cast Production The film was a highly personal project for Jennifer Jason Leigh. Leigh's mother, Barbara Turner, wrote the screenplay; Leigh and Turner co-produced it along with director Ulu Grosbard, and Mare Winningham, a longtime friend who had been Leigh's camp counselor during their teen years, co-starred. The music in the film consists of 13 songs; to create a realistic effect, Leigh and Winningham were both filmed singing live. The 13 songs included covers of songs by Gladys Knight & the Pips, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison. In the talked-about centerpiece of the film, Sadie drunkenly performs a raw, grueling cover of Morrison's "Take Me Back" in a ragged Janis Joplin-style gut howl at an AIDS benefit concert. John Doe of the band X plays a supporting role and performed as a member of Sadie's band. Reception Release Georgia was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Georgia was released in the U.S. on December 8, 1995. The film performed poorly at the U.S. box office. Home media On February 15, 2000, the film was released by Miramax Classics on DVD. It was re-released on DVD on May 17, 2011. Critical reception On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, Georgia has an approval rating of 81% based on