Dawn Anna

Dawn Anna is a television drama based on the life of Dawn Anna Townsend, a single mother raising four children. Hoping to support her family, she takes a job as a math teacher in a Colorado school and begins a new relationship. Her life is then disrupted when she is diagnosed with a serious brain condition that affects her ability to speak and move, requiring surgery and a long period of recovery during which she must relearn basic skills. The story follows her efforts to rebuild her life, only to face a national tragedy connected to her daughter Lauren.

The film was directed by Arliss Howard, who wrote the screenplay with Robert Munic. It was produced by Murray Ord, Peter Lhotka and Tom Cox for Lifetime, and was released in January 2005. Debra Winger leads the cast as Dawn Anna Townsend, with Alex Van, Tatiana Maslany, Sam Howard, Stephen Warner and Krista Rae in supporting roles. The film is 88 minutes long and was made in Canada and the United States. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from about a thousand votes, while on TMDB its rating stands at 7.1 from a small number of votes, indicating a modest but positive response from viewers.