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Movies on the Big Screen

Lovers w/ filmmaker Q&A

FRI, September 26, 7pm

2024 | Documentary | Starring Angela Trimbur, Amelia Meath| 1h 43m |

Featuring post screening Q&A with director  Taylor McFadden and actors Matt Burns and Benedict Samuel

Ash is an aspiring writer in NYC, struggling with loneliness and a loss of creative inspiration. She gets a call from her best friend Tara with the news that their mutual friend and her ex Tommy has taken his own life. The two women decide to return to their hometown to attend his funeral and reconnect with their old close-knit group. They find themselves in the same old dive bar music venue where not much has changed, and the music is still the thing that brings everyone together. The group finds themselves having to confront the loss of their friend and the addiction issues that permeate artistic communities. They discover the power of coming together through music, and how healing it can be to have a space to grieve together. Ash is given the opportunity to see herself in a new way through the warmth and authenticity of the friends that have known her for so long. She slowly opens herself back up to the people she used to call chosen family, and to the possibility of finding love again.

“McFadden set out to do the nearly impossible: To write, direct and complete a film with enormous emotional depth as a first-time female director. She directed it. And she saw it all through.”- Indie 102.3 – Colorado Public Radio

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

By Taylor McFadden

“Friends did not form isolated dyads but were normally part of highly integrated networks.” – Rebecca Traister

I became involved with the live music scene at a very young age. The moment I first stepped foot into a dive venue, I felt something inside me come alive. In these venues, I met other lost souls like myself, who were searching desperately for a way to express themselves. Live music bonded us together– sound and feeling flowing through our bodies and filling the room. In these spaces, I also found women who, like myself, were seeking a less conventional lifestyle. Unfortunately, there is another side to the art scene– a darkness that permeates.

Lovers is a deeply personal film that I started writing in 2018 following the loss of a dear friend to substance abuse. Growing up in the art world, you are immersed in a party culture that encourages heavy drinking and drug use. This culture, combined with the pressure many creatives feel to make themselves vulnerable and push themselves to their limits, leaves many artists susceptible to mental illness and substance abuse. Until recently, there was no open dialogue about mental health for artists. That’s why we’re partnering with Sound Mind Live, a non-profit that works to demystify the conversation surrounding mental health in artistic communities by offering support to musicians. My hope is that Lovers will aid in ending the stigma around asking for help, and encourage people to reach out when they need it.

In 2016, I was struck by a New York Times article detailing the significance of female friendships, and how women are often each other’s primary partners through life. It was important for me to write a story that specifically came from the perspective of women artists. I wanted to highlight female friendships and the way women look out for each other and support one another in a very male-dominated industry. Lovers follows one woman’s journey to open her heart back up to life and love, through the support of her community. I gleaned this perspective from my personal experiences and from my conversations with countless women about the challenges of being taken seriously in the professional world while trying to remain open-hearted.

The common thread throughout the film is the theme of connection through music– how a room full of people with different backgrounds can come together and have a shared experience. In the On Being podcast, Berkeley professor Dr. Dacher Keltner explains that it has been scientifically proven that our neurophysiology changes when we gather around a collective purpose, specifically when listening to music in the same space. I have felt this sense of connectivity and belonging since my youth, and I’ve learned how important it is for society and for our own well-being to come together in this way.

The irony is that sometimes it takes losing someone we love to remind us that we need each other and that our relationships are what matter. Writing Lovers was a way for me to process the loss of all the amazing creatives who have left us over the years, and to remind myself that we are all in this together.

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