Here is a film I've been keeping an eye on for about a year. I'm on their mailing list, so I get an update every once in a while. So far, it's played a few festivals in the States and won a few awards, but there doesn't seem to be any plans for a commercial release, in theatres or on video.
All of the information and pictures gathered here is from the film's official website (
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The story follows Anna Roberts (Lindsay Broockman), 16, trying to survive the cruel world of high school, while taking care of her two brothers in her parents' absence. Anna hides herself beneath her homework, her cello and her family responsibilities. Only when she is assigned to help out James Fisher (Brandon Howe), a transfer student with a penchant for poetry and insects, does she find someone to confide in, someone to understand. It is through their friendship that she uncovers the strength and beauty that has been buried so deep.
Anna becomes intrigued by James' abrasive and dark behavior. Rejected by their peers, the two find solace in each other. Both must overcome a sense of betrayal by their parents. James lives with his grieving, alcoholic mother and hasn't seen his father in years. Anna finds herself taking care of her two brothers, Jacob and Simon, while her parents are constantly away on business. Jacob (Paul Conrad), an eighteen year old artist, is forever skipping school to get drunk with his Dungeons and Dragons friends. And Simon (Bryan Chafin), a ten year old introvert, finds comfort in collecting and listening to bugs while hiding in trees.
Simon's odd ways and diminutive stature prompt the relentless taunting of two bullies from school. He keeps quiet about his afternoons of being teased and beaten up, trying to survive by closing off to the rest of the world. But when the harassment continues, he eventually erupts in violence.
This portrait of young lives trying to fit in, evolves into a struggle to survive the fear and rage caused by the cruelties of their peers. The characters cling to their passions in life … art, music and nature. They desperately hold on to the things that bring joy into their everyday lives: collecting bugs, sketching, playing cello. They wash away the reminders of what waits for them inside their school hallways and classrooms. Anna, subjected to her classmates' pranks and practical jokes, becomes numb. Simon, picked on relentlessly, begins to hate himself. Their identities crumble and waver from rejection and misunderstanding. Uncomfortable with who they are and what skins they've been given, they search inside themselves, hoping to find someone prettier, more popular or more appealing. Finding solace and strength in each other, they rise above it all and learn to use their own voices and their own wings. And like the cicada, each of the characters emerges from beneath the earth, sheds their own skin and learns how to fly.