NARRATIVE

the bridge

a short film written/directed by Andres Torres-Vives
produced by Nicole Vinnola

PETRICHOR

ABOUT THE FILM

Short Synopsis

It is the day Nev is released from prison. She’s a force of nature; an attractive but worn, 30-year old Latina, free for the first time in 9 years. Leaving prison she swears never to go back.  At a transitional halfway house, Nev meets Anita the tough director who takes a keen interest in Nev.  Nev’s plans are derailed when her 10-year old son Malcolm is dropped off by her mother-in-law, Malia. Nev rejects him; but is left with no choice but to take him in. Overwhelmed by the vulnerability of this new dynamic, Nev reacts by placing Malcolm in ever worsening situations and finally surrendering her parental rights. After a reality gut-check, Nev realizes the gravity of her mistake, gets information on his whereabouts and sets off to get him back, only to give up after seeing him happy and smiling at a temporary foster home. Now defeated and truly alone,

Nev is confronted by Anita, the half-way house director, who reveals her connection to Nev’s past; Nev is responsible for Anita’s son’s death in a drunk driving accident 9 years ago. Shocked, Nev listens as Anita shares the story and forgives her. On sheer adrenaline, and with a newfound focus Nev rushes back to the foster home, kidnaps Malcolm in a frantic scene, and apologizes to him for her failings as a mother. She reveals her crime to Malcolm. It is this moment that a light rain begins to fall, and the police arrive on the scene.  Nev is arrested, and Malcolm is taken away. One furious week has passed. In the end, Malcolm visits Nev in prison as they embrace for the first time as mother and son.

Budget/Schedule

Petrichor is a SAG Modified Low Budget (under $1M) film.

The Team

Nicole Vinnola (Producer/Co-Writer) is an emmy award-winning producer with over 100 hours of factual and unscripted programming credits cable television.  She's worked with National Geographic, History, A&E, Animal Planet, Red Bull Media House, Style, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery to name a few.   Nicole relocated to Los Angeles from Washington, DC to pursue narrative production and she won the Film Independent Project Involve Fellowship in 2012 and produced her first short film. Petrichor will be her first feature-length narrative project.  After being intimately exposed to the prison system some years ago, Nicole began filming her families experience and is in edit on a documentary on the subject, the work is titled; All The Little Things.  Nicole co-wrote Petrichor to further explore the plight of system affected women and children and is passionate about the authentic portrayal of the complexities of motherhood and prison.

Andres Torres-Vives (Director/Co-Writer) has made multiple award-winning short films, including the half-hour narrative film The Book of the Border. Andres is a Fulbright Scholar, with multiple awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The California Arts Council, among many others agencies. He is also a film professor at Arizona State University (ASU) and a UCLA Film School MFA. As a filmmaker who taught inside a correctional facility for many years and was raised by my single-mom in the housing projects of New York, Andres has a direct connection to the unique urgency and opportunity of bringing this film to life.

For more, contact:

Nicole Vinnola, Producer/Co-Writer nicolevinnola@me.com I www.nezera.com

Andres Torres-Vives Director/Co-Writer atorresvives@gmail.com I www.andrestorresvives.com