Cherry
When a young artist learns she can no longer be homeschooled, she struggles to decide whether or not to keep her imaginary friend Cherry or to befriend Lizzie who’ll be attending the same school as her.
Awards
Official Selection: Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival (March 2019)
The Tampa Film Institute was founded in 2006 with the inaugural Gasparilla International Film Festival held in 2007. In just 13 short years, GIFF has hosted thousands of filmmakers, talent, producers, and film buffs along with countless World Premieres, USA Premieres, and Florida Premiere film screenings that have brought and continues to bring the arts, education, and quality films to the Tampa Bay Area!
​
Official Selection: Fort Myers Film Festival
2019
The Fort Myers Film Festival is an intelligent independent filmmaker's preferred event to create, unite and showcase the finest artistic cinematic works. The Fort Myers Film Festival is known for world-class swagger and support of local filmmakers. The festival event offers ‘the most vibrant intellectual and edgy crowd to grace Lee County in decades.’ The event has featured hundreds of local filmmakers and is a must attend for cineasts who love indie film and film festivals living in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties.
​
Miami Film Festival: Official Selection and awarded "Best Actress"
March 2018
Founded in 1983, the Miami Film" is an annual film festival in Miami, Florida, that showcases independent American and international films with a special focus on Ibero-American films.
​
Canes Film Festival: Official Selection and awarded the Jury Award
April 2017
The University of Miami Department of Cinema and Interactive Media 21st annual CANES FILM FESTIVAL (May 3-6) is a competitive festival open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Motion Pictures Program at UM. The films are juried by a panel of professionals from the film and television industry. Previous judges have included Barry Waldman, David Nutter, Michael Robin, Juan Carlos Coto, Jeff Respress, Charles Vignola, Erin Moyer, David Issacs and many others.
Director's Statement
“Cherry” is a female coming of age story with a fantastical twist. It’s a bittersweet film about a talented twelve-year-old artist who has to let go of her imaginary friend, Cherry, in order to grow up. Even though our protagonist is quite young, her need of having to say goodbye to a childhood pleasure in order to grow up, is something that everyone has, or had to do at one point in their life. This is a topic that isn’t really seen through a female’s perspective and I wanted to explore that in this film.
What’s special about “Cherry” is that it takes place in an urban Floridian home, yet it feels closed off from everyone. It’s a quiet film that intimately pulls you into both Sophie’s fantasy world and her reality. To ensure we had this desired effect, we paid special attention to our color scheme for wardrobe and set design in order to create the feeling of wonder and magic.
I remember the moment of having to let go of something that was deemed too childish by others and honestly it’s bittersweet. There’s fear, but also excitement at the prospect of acquiring a newfound happiness. Children tend to create their own little universe and some may feel intimidated by the idea of stepping out of it, but by doing this we discover who we are and learn about the things that scare us. But most importantly, we have to remember that all endings, no matter how happy or sad they may be, lead to new beginnings waiting to be explored.
.png)
