LORETTA S FLOWERS. Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit

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1 OFFICIAL SELECTION: Telefilm Canada s Not Short on Talent Showcase at Cannes 2018 OFFICIAL SELECTION: Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018 Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 1

LOGLINE On a long summer day in Toronto, a young queer woman cycles between increasingly intimate encounters with three diverse individuals, but remains trapped in a pattern of insatiable longing.

2 LOGLINE On a long summer day in Toronto, a young queer woman cycles between increasingly intimate encounters with three diverse individuals, but remains trapped in a pattern of insatiable longing. SYNOPSIS Loretta s Flowers is a short dramatic film about a persistent and insatiable hunger for connection, even in the face of diverse social abundance. During the course of a long summer's day in Toronto, a young woman named Loretta cycles between increasingly intimate encounters with three strikingly different people, and yet still goes home lonely and unsatisfied. First, she meets Camille, a recent transplant to Toronto from Winnipeg, at a patio bar in Kensington Market. Camille earnestly tries to initiate conversation, eager to make a friend in her new city, but Loretta struggles to reciprocate, seeming irresolute and unresponsive to cues. Camille grows confused, and Loretta eventually resigns herself to the limitations of their interaction. Heading out of the downtown, Loretta stops outside the home of Bailey, an aging part- time punk rocker. While Bailey initially assumes a paternal role for Loretta during a somewhat familiar conversation, she hints at a desire for deeper rapport. When Bailey seems to ignore her signals, they share a moment of physical affection that complicates the nature of their relationship, and the certainty of Loretta s sexual orientation. Finally, we find Loretta in the bed of another woman, Frances, shortly after making love. Reduced to trying to rouse her attention by tracing lines in Frances back with a pointed finger, Loretta is at a low moment, feeling a million miles away. Frances, in her efforts to reassure Loretta, only exacerbates things. But, their level of personal familiarity implies a longer- term relationship, which makes the nature of Loretta s previous encounters more obscure. In a final act of desperation, Loretta makes an awkward verbal foray in search of emotional intimacy, only to have the gesture lost in translation. As she rides home in the morning feeling hollow and dejected, the rising sun and continuation of Loretta s bike journey seems to signal that these visits, however fleeting and ambiguous in nature, are likely to persist along with her insatiable longing for connection. Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 2

SPECIFICATIONS Genre: Drama Subgenres/Areas of Interest: Romance, LGBTQ, Character Drama, Women on Film, Canadian New- Wave Running Time: 15 minutes Production Dates: August 2017 Completion Date:

3 SPECIFICATIONS Genre: Drama Subgenres/Areas of Interest: Romance, LGBTQ, Character Drama, Women on Film, Canadian New- Wave Running Time: 15 minutes Production Dates: August 2017 Completion Date: February 2018 Shooting Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Budget: $4000 CAN, self- financed Shooting Format: Sony FS7, 4K, 24fps, Colour Presentation Formats: DCP (2k, Dolby Digital Stereo) Blu- Ray (1080p, PCM Stereo) ProRes 422HQ (2k or 1080p, PCM Stereo) PRESS + GENERAL CONTACT Brendan Prost Producer, Director, Writer brendan.prost@hotmail.com I SALES CONTACT Sara Blake Producer saraluisablake@gmail.com I LINKS WEBSITE: ONLINE SCREENER: (password: bicycle) STILLS: s- YCGM5LlMDJa?dl=0 POSTER: TRAILER: IMDB: Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 3

FILMMAKER STATEMENT At a cultural moment when connection is ubiquitous, sexuality is fluid, urban centres grow denser, and relationships are seemingly unbounded by convention, my observation has been

4 FILMMAKER STATEMENT At a cultural moment when connection is ubiquitous, sexuality is fluid, urban centres grow denser, and relationships are seemingly unbounded by convention, my observation has been that loneliness is an increasingly alien sensation. Not that it s less common, but that it s often dismissed as foreign or anomalous, or that it s even stigmatized. After all what reason is there to feel alone, when you can communicate with anyone at the push of a touch screen? Why do we still experience unrequited cravings for intimacy in an increasingly sex positive culture? Why do we experience solitude, when we re constantly surrounded by other people? I wanted to make a film that addresses these apparent paradoxes, that grasps at the profound strangeness of yearning for something that exists everywhere all around you. In a series of brief vignettes, the film juxtaposes Loretta against three different personalities, all of whom offer her something unique, and all of whom she desires something different from. Through the way Loretta pursues her emotional goals, and through her reaction to what they offer, we get an impression of a character in desperate pursuit of an ever- allusive social something. She can t put her finger on what it is, and she can t tell anyone what s wrong, but she knows that something is missing. The increasingly familiar nature of her interactions serves to highlight the severity of this condition, culminating in the ultimate moment of isolation that many of us can relate to feeling distant from someone we ve just been intimate with. These vignettes are interspersed with images of Loretta on her bicycle, moving place to place. These are visual moments of release about a character on an unending journey, in repetitive motion, always chasing the next thing, and struggling to varying degrees to make progress on her own steam. I hope that this movie will resonate with, and galvanize, a diverse community of young adults who feel estranged by their own disaffection, and don t quite know how to put words to the experience. I think there s an opportunity with Loretta s Flowers to lend clarity to an emotional experience that can be confusing, hard to diagnose, and even more difficult to talk about. It s hard to admit that although it seems like we have everything we need in a social sense, many of us are still left longing for something. Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 4

5 CAST BIOS HARVEEN SANDHU (Loretta) Born in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Harveen is a graduate of Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto and has had the great privilege of working at some of the finest theatre companies in country. Memorable roles include a turn as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Shaw Festival (2015) where Harveen had the honour of being the first Eliza of colour in a North American professional production of the play. Harveen was last seen playing Elizabeth Bennett in Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley this past winter at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in Missouri and she will next be seen playing Celia in Shakespeare's As You Like It with Bard on the Beach in Vancouver, Canada. Harveen is a proud graduate of the Canadian Film Centre's Actor's Conservatory (2016). SOCHI FRIED (Frances) Sochi Fried grew up in New York City and Ottawa, and is currently based in Toronto. Primarily a stage actor, she has worked in theatres across North America and was named one of NOW Magazine s Top 10 Theatre Artists of Her TV/ film credits include: Condor, The Girlfriend Experience, Murdoch Mysteries, The Drawer Boy, Loretta s Flowers, and Leila. She is a graduate of the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program, Ryerson University Theatre School, and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Sochi also recently narrated A Student of Weather, by Elizabeth Hay for Penguin Random House Canada. MATTHEW GOUVEIA (Bailey) Matthew Gouveia is a Dora- nominated actor, born and raised in Toronto's Little Italy. After graduating from the Humber College Theatre Performance Program, Gouveia was blessed to travel to Africa with Shakespeare Link Canada to work on a project aimed at raising HIV/AIDS awareness; a bilingual adaptation of The Winter's Tale in collaboration with Montes Namuli a dance company based in Quelimane, Mozambique. In 2013, he was lucky to have worked with Canadian theatre legend, Judith Thompson, in her play, Who Killed Snow White? Gouveia then gave his most notable performance as Chris Smith in the Toronto premier production of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe at the Coal Mine Theatre in 2016, which went on to garner him a Dora nomination for outstanding male performance. Most recently, Gouveia became an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre s CBC Actors Conservatory and among playing leads in many short films, he went on to book roles in his first feature and on various TV programs including American Gods (Starz), Killjoys (Space) and Murdoch Mysteries (CBC/UKTV). STEFFI DiDOMENICANTONIO (Camille) Montreal born and Ottawa raised, Steffi DiDomenicantonio is a Toronto based Dora Award nominated performer who has appeared on stages across Canada and the United States for the past decade. She is currently performing in the Broadway smash hit Come From Away, and on the small screen as Shellers in CBC s Crawford. She toured North America in the first Broadway National Tour of Spring Awakening and was the Top 5 finalist on Season 4 of Canadian Idol where she worked with artists such as Cindy Lauper, Nelly Furtado and Martina McBride, among others. Her other selected theatre credits include: Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Cinderella in Cinderella (Dora Nomination), Natalie in Next to Normal (BroadwayWorld Nomination), Wendy in Peter Pan, Wednesday in The Addams Family, Janet in The Rocky Horror Show as well as many other leading ladies. Steffi has also appeared on television in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Saving Hope, Lost Girl, Nikita, Private Eyes, Rick Mercer Report, Fugazi, Amélie et Compagnie (2 seasons), Moitié Moitié (4 seasons) and the feature film Stage Fright with Meatloaf. Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 5

6 FILMMAKER BIOS BRENDAN PROST (Director, Writer, Producer) Brendan Prost is a director, writer, producer, and editor from Calgary, currently based in Toronto. He is best known as the dogged and unabashedly personal young auteur behind four feature films that have screened theatrically across Canada, and are now available everywhere on- demand: Generation Why (2009), Choch (2011), Spaces and Reservations (2014), and Sensitive Parts (2017). Brendan s credits also include an eclectic set of short films, including the improvised comedy Best Friends For Life (Montreal World Film Festival 2013), the musical drama Getting There (Calgary International Film Festival 2014), and the wilderness thriller In the Shadow of the Mountain (Northwest Filmmakers Festival 2017). Brendan graduated with distinction from Simon Fraser University s School for the Contemporary Arts, and was recently a resident in the Directors Lab at the Canadian Film Centre. SARA BLAKE (Producer) Sara is an emerging Vancouver based producer with a passion for films that tell peculiar stories bolstered by unique visuals. With a background in domestic and international distribution, Sara plans to foster relationships with innovative filmmakers wishing to share their stories worldwide. Sara s production background developed during her time as business affairs coordinator at production and distribution company IndustryWorks Studios, where she managed all development, production and worldwide distribution aspects of the company. In 2017, Sara began producing films independently. She produced six short films and is looking to build her slate with filmmakers in her community and abroad. Sara holds a BFA in Film from Simon Fraser University. ANDREW LAU (Director of Photography) Andrew Lau is a Toronto based director of photography working in narrative shorts, documentary, commercials and music videos. He is a graduate of the Ryerson University film certificate program and two- time recipient of the Ryerson Film Hub grant. His work has been screened and awarded at film festivals across North America and abroad. NEIL HAVERTY (Composer) Neil Haverty is a musician and A/V composer based in Toronto. He has contributed music to a host of feature films including Small Town Murder Songs, Sleeping Giant, and Burns Point as well as several short films, which have screened at the Cannes Film Festival, TIFF, Karlovy Vary, and more. Neil is an alumni of the Canadian Film Centre s Slaight Music Residency, and is a founding member of the indie- rock band Bruce Peninsula. Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 6

CAST LIST HARVEEN SANDHU Loretta STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO Camille MATTHEW GOUVEIA Bailey SOCHI FRIED Frances CREW LIST BRENDAN PROST Director, Writer, Producer, Sound Designer, Colourist SARA BLAKE

7 CAST LIST HARVEEN SANDHU Loretta STEFFI DIDOMENICANTONIO Camille MATTHEW GOUVEIA Bailey SOCHI FRIED Frances CREW LIST BRENDAN PROST Director, Writer, Producer, Sound Designer, Colourist SARA BLAKE Producer ANDREW LAU Cinematographer JAMES TRACEY Editor NEIL HAVERTY Composer P.H. BERGERON Production Designer BRENDAN WHELTON Assistant Director BRAD SIDDALL Camera Assistant GUILLAUME COTTIN Gaffer DAVID RUGGLES Key Grip JORDAN DEAN Art Production Assistant AVAAH BLACKWELL Driver SOUNDTRACK LISTING LORETTA S FLOWERS Written by Allison Crutchfield Performed by Swearin Featured courtesy Domino Music Publishing Loretta s Flowers Film Press Kit Page 7

TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT A TRACE OF SENTIMENTALITY GLENN SUMI - NOW

TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT A TRACE OF SENTIMENTALITY GLENN SUMI - NOW DISTRIBUTOR FILM INFO Canada 2017 98 Minutes - DCP English Subtitles in English, Spanish & French 5.1 Surround sound arturo@opencityworks.com