Morning After, a bold and playful drama about sexual fluidity is being showcased in the Creative Minds Shorts Block during the Festival de Cannes. Morning After directed by award-winning filmmaker Patricia Chica, written by Kristian Hodko and produced by Patricia Chica and Byron A. Martin has been selected to be a part of the 2017 Creative Minds - Festival de Cannes – Shorts Block. The Creative Mind Group, founded by Rob Ford, has curated a special presentation of the best international short films at the film market and has included Morning After in their Cannes' lineup.
SCREENING
May 26th, 2017 at 8:30 p.m.
Palais des Festivals, Theatre Olympia 2
Cannes, France
In the presence of the cast and crew
Morning After is a bold and playful drama that explores the subject of sexual fluidity and human desire. This poignant and moving coming-of-age tale perfectly captures the challenges and tribulations of five friends who decide to explore their sexuality and realize that they may not fall within societies' clean-cut lines.
“I wanted to speak about human connection, energy and sexual enlightenment from a fresh perspective other than the LGBTQ or heterosexual’s points of view. I wanted to make a film about desire and arousal that would go beyond the conventional physical realm... a deeper and perhaps more spiritual approach to sexuality, self-expression and self-acceptance. Morning After presented the perfect opportunity for me to hit all of these narrative targets in one single project,” says director Patricia Chica.
Morning After stars five bright rising actors – Thomas Vallières (Game of Death), Zoé de Grand Maison (Orphan Black), Joey Scarpellino (The Parents), Jordana Lajoie (Patrice Lemieux 24/7) and Kristian Hodko (The Howling: Reborn) who also wrote the script.
“I don’t think sexual fluidity is such a new thing. Be it for religious or historical reasons, it’s something that we’ve blocked off,” adds lead actor Thomas Vallières who is presently doing a masters degree at LAMDA, the prestigious drama school in London, England.
Morning After is directed and edited by Patricia Chica; Written by Kristian Hodko; Executive Producers: Marc Carle and Juan Grey; Producers: Patricia Chica (Quebec) and Byron A. Martin (Ontario); Co-Executive Producers: Raj Maan, Jessica Moreno, Lisa Powers, Tariq Rahman, and Andrew Wong; Line Producer: Kathy Wolf; Associate Producers: Lily Spencer, Keith Lane, Ben Ragunton, Dany Gange, Kevin T. Peterson, Rome Keshav Chopra, Bhavna Singh, Richard Duquette, and Bonni Ellis; Cinematographer: Martin Bouchard; Colourist: Nicolas Fournier; Art Director: Alexandre Piedon; VFX: Henry Lipatov; Sound: Bruno Carrières; Re-recording Mixer: Giulio Wehrli; Costumes: Josée Métivier; Makeup Artists: Steph Miramontes and Larysa Chernienko.
Morning After will soon be playing at a film festival near you. World rights are presently available. To find out more about the touring dates, please visit its social media sites:
FACEBOOK:www.facebook.com/MorningAfterMovie
TWITTER: @PatriciaChica
HASHTAG: #MorningAfterMovie
Director-producer Patricia Chica, producer Byron A. Martin, writer-actor Kristian Hodko, and lead actor Thomas Vallières are presently available for interviews, in English, Spanish, Croatian and French.
Will be present at Festival de Cannes from May 17th to the 28th:
Patricia Chica, director
Byron A. Martin, producer
Thomas Vallières, actor
Marc Carle& Juan Grey, executive producers
Jessica Moreno& Lisa Powers, co-executive producers
Jasmine Durand, associate producer
Source: Flirt Films • Jasmine Durand • +1 (514) 894-0125
Press Contact: ChicArt Public Relations • chicartPR@gmail.com
USA: +1 (310) 957-4508 • CANADA: +1 (514) 806-7517
| Morning After LOG LINE A young man discovers the fluidity of sexuality during a night of partying with friends. Should human relationships be defined by labels in the era of the Millennial generation? "Morning After" is an uplifting film on a topic rarely explored in cinema. SYNOPSIS Michael just came back to his hometown after spending two years abroad. His friend Edward has organized a welcome party in his honor. While only knowing Edward, Michael quickly becomes friendly with the rest of the gang as they get involved in a provocative game of chocolate tasting and French-kissing. The openness of the group makes Michael come face to face with a dilemma he’s had for quite some time; of not only questioning his own sexuality, but the notion of sexual identity as a whole, and are labels really necessary? After a storm that leaves them soaked in the middle of the night, Michael finds the answer to all his questions, the Morning After.
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| Patricia Chica Director/Producer Photo Credit: Franco Mauri © Flirt Films BIOGRAPHY Patricia Chica is a multiple award-winning Salvadorian-Canadian filmmaker. Through her filmmaking, Patricia Chica has helped bring awareness and contributed to causes around different social issues like HIV-AIDS, Blood Donation, Depression, Suicide Prevention, Homelessness, Social Justice, as well as LGBTQ, Aboriginal and Human Rights. Chica's main purpose is to use the language of cinema to delve into taboo and sometimes hard-hitting subject-matter that makes people think. Her films always privilege story and substance over style in order to inspire, transform, and affect its viewers positively. DIRECTOR'S NOTES Morning After is a poignant and moving coming of age tale that perfectly captures the challenges and nuances of a young man’s “sexual transcendence” as he finally decides to explore and accept his sexual desires, and release what he has been holding back. The decisions he makes, amid the high stakes for his impulses, make Morning After a gripping, touching, and contemporary film for a new open minded generation. Today with everyone more curious about sexual diversity, a modern youth culture is emerging that is hungry for new cinematic themes. Morning After gives voice to an under-served audience craving characters and stories that reflect their own unique experience. With its roots firmly planted in a universal narrative with an stylized and artistic approach, Morning After depicts an emotional journey that will outlive its time and continue to be relevant as the LGBTQ+ community and its identity issues touches more and more the general audience. The cinematography and musical soundtrack of Morning After serve as vital storytelling tools, interweaving an aesthetic that rhythmically conveys the shifting thematic and emotional dynamic of Michael’s journey into discovering his sexuality and the relationships he forms with others as well as with himself. As per my writer's intention, the script had subtle conflict. Therefore, in order to enhance the drama, I will push for a kinetic style in the look, as well as in the edit, implementing an intimate feel that conveys Michael’s intense internal transformation. The story is mainly told from his point of view. The relationship between Michael and the four other characters: Edward, Dana, Teegan and Alex is at the center of this story. In addition to getting captivating performances, I love to use the dynamics of this visual medium (color, composition, textures, saturation, rhythm and music) to its maximum potential to bring the dialogue to life. It’s exciting for me as a filmmaker to create the moments where the story transcends the imagination and becomes a vivid reflection of the crossroads between reality and emotions. One of my primary goals is to get the highest performances from my actors. Morning After is a dynamic character piece with a humanistic story at its core, giving actors plenty of material to craft deep, multi-layered performances with.
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| Byron A. Martin Producer Photo Credit: Byron A. Martin Productions BIOGRAPHY Byron A. Martin is an award-winning producer that develops independent film, television and documentary projects. To date he has produced almost 70 hours of television, filming projects in over twelve countries. He has produced projects for Disney, Sony, Universal and managed productions for some of Hollywood’s leading producers. Byron has been a producing partner for Patricia Chica on her last three award-winning shorts.
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| Thomas Vallières (Michael)
BIOGRAPHY Thomas Vallières is one of Quebec’s brightest up and coming stars. Born and raised all across Canada, Thomas likes to consider himself a proper emblem of the great country: bilingual, friendly, and perhaps a little culturally confused. Maybe foolishly, his childhood dream is still his main aspiration, ever since he first set foot on a stage in the second grade. After a somewhat successful film and television career in Montreal and Toronto, he was accepted to the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) where he is presently obtaining his Master’s in Classical Acting for the Dramatic Arts. Thomas starred in SXSW’s Game of Death (2017). He is the lead actor of Morning After (2017) a film selected in the Creative Minds Shorts showcase at the Short Film Corner of the 70th Cannes Film Festival. Thomas was chosen for the role of Michael because he can carry the ambiguous balance between straight and gay and make his character believable within the context of this fluidity. Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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| Kristian Hodko (Edward) Writer of Morning After BIOGRAPHY Kristian Hodko is the writer of Morning After and plays the role of Edward, one of Michael's best friends from childhood. He is an international film and television actor, fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Croatian. He has collaborated before with Patricia Chica in Ceramic Tango and Let it Out!, as well as with other international directors such as Joe Nimziki (The Howling: Reborn), Marko Nabersnik (The Woods Are Still Green), and Duncan Macdowall (The Horse Latitudes). In 2014, Kristian joined the cast of Reign where he played the role of Carrick. Reignwon the People's Choice Awards for Best New Drama. Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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| Zoé de Grand Maison (Teegan) BIOGRAPHY Zoé De Grand Maison was born on May 3, 1995 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is an actress, known for A Christmas Horror Story (2015), An Officer and a Murderer (2012) and Pregnant at 17 (2016). In Morning After, Zoé brings a saucy charm to the vivacious and spunky character, Teegan. Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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| Jordana Lajoie (Dana) BIOGRAPHY Jordana Lajoie is a Montreal born actress who first started acting at the age of 16. After having pursued an education in Political Science, and participating in acting classes part-time, she decided to further pursue her acting training, and ultimately a career, by going back to school on a full time basis. She attended Dawson College's Professional Theatre Program and graduated in May 2014. In Morning After, Jordana brings a provocative energy and excitement to the role of Dana. Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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| Joey Scarpellino (Alex) BIOGRAPHY
Joey Scarpellino is an actor, known for Les Parents (The Parent Family) (2008), Lance et Compte (2015) and Morning After (2017). He is very well-known in Quebec, Canada. In Morning After, Joey brings a charming and electric energy to the role of Alex, an emancipated young man. Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 1 |
Actors Zoé de Grand Maison (Teegan), Joey Scarpellino (Alex), Thomas Vallières (Michael) and Kristian Hodko (Edward). Photo Credit: © Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 2 |
Joey Scarpellino (Alex) and Thomas Vallières (Michael). Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 3 |
Actor Thomas Vallières (Michael). Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 4 |
Kristian Hodko (Edward) and Thomas Vallières (Michael). Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 5 |
Thomas Vallières (Michael) and Zoé de Grand Maison (Teegan). Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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PRODUCTION STILL 6 |
Thomas Vallières (Michael) and Zoé de Grand Maison (Teegan). Photo Credit: Flirt Films
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BEHIND THE SCENES STILL 1 |
On set, director Patricia Chica with actors Kristian Hodko (Edward) and Joey Scarpellino (Alex). Photo credit: Franco Mauri
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BEHIND THE SCENES STILL 2 |
The cast of Morning After having fun on set, in between two takes. Photo Credit: Franco Mauri
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BEHIND THE SCENES STILL 3 |
On set with director Patricia Chica and actors Thomas Vallières (Michael) and Kristian Hodko (Edward). Photo Credit: Juan Perez
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