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Acres is a short film project that captures one man's relationship with his land and his old childhood friend. It delves into the confusions
millennials feel in their search for a life that is both authentic and feasible, as well as the weightiness of youthful memories we carry around
with us into our adult lives.
We are excited to be shooting our film on the site of an old
Rideau Lakes Farm, capturing the interior of a early twentieth century
farmhouse as well as the surrounding fields and forests.
Synopsis
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Yannick is living all alone on a farm, far away from the
city. He’s growing vegetables and working part time as a mechanic, but
something isn’t working. He’s not making much money and thinking about selling
the farm.
When his sister June comes to visit with her husband, she
brings along an old friend of hers, Harriet, who hasn’t seen Yannick in years.
When Harriet decides to help Yannick fix the pump, the two begin a long overdue
conversation.
Why did Yannick mysteriously disappear from the country, so
many years ago?
Who We Are
Sarah Swire - HARRIET
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Sarah is a graduate of the Royal Conservatorie in Scotland and works as a professional choreographer, musician/song-writer, and actress for both stage and screen. She has worked with the band Belle and Sebastian as a choreographer and performer for their live concerts and videos, and has developed similar work for the film company The Forest of Black. Recent stage credits include The Singer - Caucasian Chalk Circle (Royal Edinburgh Lyceum) and Molly - Love Song (Dundee Repertory Theatre) for which she also composed an original score. In her latest short film "Listen Up Emily" she features in the lead part of Emily and as film Choreographer, will be premiering at the British Film Institute in London this July.
Edmund Stapleton - YANNICK
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Edmund hails from Paradise, Newfoundland & Labrador. He has worked predominately in theatre with companies across the country including two seasons at the Shaw Festival in southern Ontario. He will next be seen on stage in the Canadian premiere of the Broadway and West End hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time in Edmonton and Winnipeg. Edmund holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta and a BA in English and Philosophy from Memorial University in St. John's.
Erica Hill - JUNE
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Erica Hill is a recent graduate from McMaster University, majoring in Theatre & Film and Women's Studies. Her passion for acting was sparked in high school and she hasn’t looked back since. She is also currently directing a show for the Hamilton Fringe Festival. Besides acting, Erica is passionate about intersectional feminism and 7-eleven slurpees. She is extremely excited to watch this project come to fruition and cannot wait to get started!
Rebeccah Love – Director
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Rebeccah is a Toronto-based writer and director. Her past credits include
Circles (2013, writer),
Pitching for the Heights (2013, writer/director),
Abacus, My Love (2014, writer/director), and
Drawing Duncan Palmer (2016, writer/director). She is currently completing an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis on screenwriting at the University of Guelph. Rebeccah was recently featured by TIFF as being
one of six filmmakers representing the Toronto DIY filmmaking scene.
Olivia Tran – Producer
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Olivia has developed an interest in the creative aspects of a production,
she enjoys writing as well as working in the art department. She has worked on
several films in various roles, including Miss America which she wrote and art
directed. She single handedly produced Abacus, My Love in 2014, as well as Drawing Duncan Palmer in 2016, and continues to
be engaged in creative projects around Toronto.
Eric Rowe – Cinematographer
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Eric Rowe is a Toronto based freelance cinematographer and filmmaker. Some of his short-film credits include Circles, The Gospel of Peanutbutter Face, Ed and Leonard, Pitching for the Heights, Abacus, My Love and Drawing Duncan Palmer.
Thomas Hoy - Composer
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Thomas Hoy is a Toronto-based composer and musician. In 2014, he completed his music degree with a specialization in composition at Dalhousie/King’s College in Halifax, NS. There, he gained experience composing and arranging everything from a full symphony orchestra to a solo viola. His recent film credits include Ali Kazimi’s “Random Acts of Legacy”, which premiered at HotDocs last month, and Richard Fung’s “Re:Orientatons”, which premiered at Inside Out… two days ago. He is pictured above jumping joyously with an oversized blue penguin.
Maria Komech - Editor
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Maria Komech is a freelance video editor. Since graduating film school two years ago, she has worked on short films, music videos, and television documentaries, most recently for TVO and Accessible Media Inc. Apart from editing, she loves stop-motion animation, working with music, synching projects by hand - and, of course, the craft table.
Aleksey Matviyenko - Assistant Director
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Aleksey is a Ukrainian-born, Toronto-raised filmmaker who tells vivid, engaging stories regardless of medium or format. A two-time recipient of the Universal Studios Canada Scholarship in Filmmaking during his time at Ryerson University, Aleksey developed the skills necessary to become a multi-faceted filmmaker. His latest film “Rainfall” is the culmination of that - a project that required expertise in producing, cinematography, and many aspects of post-production.
On the personal side, Aleksey spent the last decade fencing, vagabonding, and reading tech blogs.
Patrick Love - Production Manager
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Patrick Love has had a history of selflessly contributing to all of our film projects. When I was filming my first short Pitching for the Heights and was too nervous to work with professional actors, Patrick agreed to sacrifice his weekends and evenings rehearsing his lines for his role in the film. When we decided to embark on our crazy thesis project, Abacus, My Love, (one which involved stupid amounts of organization) Patrick was there, picking up logs from the birch pole purveyor and rocking some mean breeches and waistcoats as the Aristocrat.
With now two years of experience managing a fleet of trucks through 1-800-GOT-JUNK, it comes as no surprise that Patrick has mastered the logistics of multifaceted operations.
Budget
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All donations will be applied
directly to the execution of our project.
There are many different ways
your generous donations can help us create our film. Some of the aspects
requiring funding include but are not limited to:
-Locations
-Camera Equipment and Rentals
-Sound Equipment and Rentals
-Costumes
-Set
-Props
-Transportation
If now isn’t a good time to make a donation, we would
greatly appreciate any shares on social media or by word of mouth to get the
word around about our project.
Thanks for reading!
