After witnessing the dismantling of abortion rights and healthcare, our goal is to tell a story about a woman overcoming her fears and the pressure of the world to embrace her body and her future.

a 15-minute short film created to celebrate womanhood

Even though they live together in Rome, Italy, BEATRICE never sees her boyfriend SIMONE, which is sort of okay . . .(?) He's living his best artist life, pursuing his dreams of composing for a ballet. She is struggling to complete her novel while trying to be the perfect girlfriend. Life is bearable until she discovers that she is pregnant.

She keeps her pregnancy a secret. Her sister SOFIA cannot understand why Beatrice is avoiding her calls. They should be bonding and inspiring one another, especially since the United States snatched away a woman's right to abortion. What if Italy does the same thing?

Beatrice doesn't have time to think about the U.S. She's trying to figure out if she is even ready to be a mom. A ton of questions overwhelm her everyday: What kind of mom will she be? What does she like/dislike? Should--scratch that--can she get an abortion? Is she happy?

No. She's lonely.

She’s not good with tough conversations and plans on sneaking back home to Florence. She’ll explain her need to find herself in a letter addressed, Dear Simone. 

Then her best friend DANIEL interrupts her plans. He creates the safe space she needs to overcome her fears. Also, with the love and support from Sofia, Beatrice discovers the strength to face Simone. She tells him the truth even though she's not certain what the truth will mean for their love. 

This story showcases a woman who embraces her fears. It is meant to inspire women to find love within themselves as their bodies changes while also acknowledging that finding self-love isn't always easy. Sometimes that love has yet to blossom and needs the water of a friend. 

why me: I once was sitting in a Planned Parenthood with a frown on my face, looking at my female doctor. She sighed empathetically and said, "I know. Being a woman is hard. We make it look easy, but being a woman is hard." And just her acknowledgment made me feel safe and secure. I wanted to explore what that kind of empathy looks like on screen. I also wanted to explore a woman deciding to say yes to her body. I also feel I have the lived experience to explore the fears and intersectionality of singleness and motherhood because I was raised by a single mother, so I recognize how hard it is to be a woman on the verge of motherhood in the midst of pursuing her dreams. I want to honor that journey.

why this, why now: The United States has wiped away abortion rights for many women. Thus, there will be many stories about the female body that explore the repercussions of limited access to abortion and healthcare. I believe those stories are necessary for change. However, there is a toll on mental health when those are the only stories about the female body dominating the landscape. Dear Simone acknowledges that women have to change their lives drastically to have a child. The main character must leave her home, her boyfriend, and put her dreams as a writer on hold. Yet, she is not only open to the changes but possesses the means to achieve those changes successfully. I want this story to be uplifting while also reminding viewers that motherhood is an important decision and women should have the freedom to make that decision.

womanhood: Beatrice is dealing with pregnancy in the midst of a chaotic world for women. Even though her body does not perform expectedly, she becomes accepting of how her body has changed.

self-discovery: Beatrice realizes that most of her identity is tied to her boyfriend, and she is hungry to find her identity apart from a man. 

creativity: Beatrice and Simone are artists. They work hard and are excited by their crafts. For them, it isn’t about the money.

a film that will make you think of daylight, hope, movement, nature

tone: This is a drama with a tinge of romance. The scenes are between two people, so the characters live, breathe, and move through the world like in Netflix’s Malcolm and Marie. However, this story is meant to feel real and authentic. It’s supposed to capture the simplicity of Beatrice, including her flaws, her fears, and her hope. Beatrice is a romantic. She dreams big and so do her friends. It’s supposed to feel slow, like peaking into Beatrice’s journal. And thus, it should feel somewhat poetic like Netflix’s Maid (episodes 1 and 9) while also being moody like Rachel’s Getting Married.

camera movement: Overall, camera movement can flow like Rachel’s Getting Married much as described in this article published on Spoolnet.com: “[Jonathan] Demme and cinematographer Declan Quinn use a Steadicam approach that lends Rachel Getting Married the air of a home movie or secret documentary. 

production design: It’s not the home of an amazing couple. For Beatrice, it’s the house of Simone: a warm and lovely place where her boyfriend’s art is showcased front and center, while Beatrice has some little boxes here and there, filled with her books and journals inside. There are plants, which her boyfriend loves, and a few flowers that she cannot live without. The style is boho to identify their sensitivity and their connection to artistry and nature.

not even the ocean can come between us

writer and director: Lorraine Wheat calls Los Angeles her home. After graduating from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Lorraine went on to write and direct three short films while also working for Paramount Global. She won a festival and earned the prestigious Panavision New Filmmaker Program grant. With any project that she writes and directs, her aim is to tell human-driven stories about flawed characters that overcome in a world that is diverse and inclusive. Her hope is that her stories will entertain while sparking conversation, providing joy and inspiring change.

director of photography: Alessio Pierre Adriano Galdiolo has worked as a freelance cinematographer for agencies and clients in Milan. In 2016, he co-founded the startup Dreamset (a creative video agency) in which he serves as the artistic head of post-production. In 2020, he launched Are Films with another team in order to give voice to environmental and social injustices, landing in the world of cinema and documentaries. He continues to work as a freelancer, selecting projects in which he strongly believes align with his values in both video and stills.  

producer: Massimiliano Folgheraiter is an Italian director, writer, editor, and composer from Trento, Italy. From a young age, he started familiarizing himself with the broadcasting industry at the local TV studio where his father used to work, developing a profound passion in film production. After graduating from high school in 2014, he attended the Bonporti Music School in Trento. In 2020, he graduated from the University of Kent (UK) with a BA in Film. During his studies, he also spent a semester abroad at the California State University, Long Beach (US). He currently works as a filmmaker and producer.

beatrice: Arianna Piattelli is an actress from Firenze, Italy. She graduated from Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Milan in 2017. She went on to study Method Acting with acting coaches Michael Margotta and Pierpaolo Lovino and with directors Davide Del Degan, Matteo Oleotto and Ivan Gergolet. Over the years she has been in many different theatre productions as well as films and short films, working with international directors such as Szabolcs Hajdu. Additionally, she has worked in commercials both as an actress and a voice-over artist, collaborating also with Heimat Films, a production company based in Los Angeles. She's a founding member of Cromo, an artist collective dedicated to creating original plays and films while also organizing festivals featuring cinema, theatre, music and dance.

daniel: Nikolai Selikovsky is an Austrian actor, born in Vienna where he grows up in a movie family. He shoots his first movie Sturmfrei as lead when he was 19 years old. From then on he works as an actor and is the singer/rapper of the band N.I.K.O. -  Now he is currently based in Italy where he was nominated at the Pigneto Film Festival as best actor and appears as one of the antagonists of the new movie of Claudio Bisio. 

1st camera assistant: Elena Coniglio studies and works between Switzerland and Italy. She is based in Lugano and Rome where she has studied directing and cinematography at the Accademia Griffith, a cinema and television school. After obtaining a visual arts high school diploma in Italy, she went on to study for her degree in contemporary world history at the public university in Varese. She is practicing photography as a way of life, a way to be in the present, and a way to form knowledge. She likes arts and writing, discovering life, people and looking to understand the complexity of our world. Like a work in progress, she is constantly developing herself by sharing and living.

composer: Federico Torri is a composer from Firenze, Italy. He’s worked on Hollywood and Netflix productions as well as smaller independent productions around the US and Europe. His music has won several awards, including Best Original Score/Best Soundtrack in festivals such as the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards (LACA) and the New York International Film Awards (NYIFA). While getting his master’s degree in Film Music at USC (Los Angeles), he composed the music for the animation “TWO”, which was a winner at the 2019 Student Academy Awards. His compositions have been performed and recorded by different orchestras such as Abu Dhabi’s “NSO Symphony Orchestra,” “Sanremo Symphony Orchestra,” “Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra,” “Budapest Art Orchestra,” “Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano,” and “Florence Chamber Orchestra.”

production designer: Paolo Re is a visual set designer and an Actor from Marche, Italy. He graduated from Macerata’s Academy of Fine Arts in Scenography. During his studies, he specialized in set designing for operas while also developing and enhancing his skills as a visual designer for retailers, dressing the businesses for consumers to window shop. Relocating to Rome at the age of thirty, he currently works as a set designer for both Spot Tv, and Cinema and Tv.

sofia and assistant director: Miriam Previati is an Italian actress, author and director born in Ferrara. She moved to Rome in 2016 to work as an actress, and in a short time, started appearing on screens both big and small. Also passionate about writing, she published a book and wrote a series of screenplays for cinema. In 2019, she founded Mujeres nel Cinema, a networking group that brings together female industry professionals (production and on-screen), which has a growing membership of over 12,000 working professionals today.

costume & make-up: Corinne Scott is a Licensed Esthetician and makeup artist that studied at Cosmix School of Makeup Artistry in South Florida. She is currently practicing spiritual skincare that focuses on healing the mind-body and soul. She has experience with special effects. She is excited to be part of the Unspoken Vows Wardrobe & Makeup Department. She focuses on accomplishing beautiful makeup and helping clients attain healthy, rejuvenated skin that is part of a balanced lifestyle because beauty starts from within.

$1,200 is our goal

Currently, we are in the pre-production stage. We have secured locations, bought much of our production design, cast our actors, and set our production dates for mid-September. Whew! We are almost there.

Yet, we need your help.

Social justice filmmaking is a community effort. It is a miracle every time an indie story makes it to the screen. So thank you for becoming our little miracle. With your help, we will raise $1,200. This will aid with the purchase of:

• Equipment rentals
• Extra Crew - we really need a gaffer
• Production design
• Food

Luckily, the crew and I are so invested in telling this story that we have more than half of what we need. Your help will close the gap.

If we meet more than our goal, that will help us in getting this story out there in the festival circuit.