“Morning After” to be showcased among the Top 30 shorts at the Festival de Cannes’ Marché du Film.

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.