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Sweet Angel Baby

Sweet Angel Baby

MELANIE OATES | CANADA | 2024 | 96 MIN | ENGLISH FST

MELANIE OATES | CANADA | 2024 | 96 MIN | ENGLISH FST

FeatureMADE AU CANADAZEITGEISTCOMPETITION

Presented by

Telefilm Canada

Synopsis

Small towns are no place for secrets. Among the churchgoing folk of a Newfoundland fishing village, Eliza leads a double-life: exploring transgressive photography while managing an unspoken romance with a shunned woman and the insistent advances of a married man. Hearsay only two steps behind. Sneaking around the neighbours, Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky) stages increasingly revealing photoshoots in locations both remote and close to home—perhaps too close. With every new post to her 318K Instagram followers, she imperils the careful balance she’s cultivated between her coexistence with fellow villagers, her burgeoning romance with Toni (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), and the married man (Peter Mooney) whose desire for her titillates as much as it terrifies. As a church fundraiser she’s helping to organize approaches, so too does a blaze of gossip, and choices are made that could leave her forever shattered. By turns kinky and kind-hearted, Melanie Oates’ second feature explores our wildest selves with a complexity that continues to deepen through to the final striking frame. All the while, embodying a true sense of place, depicting the rough shores and spirited personalities of one of the most isolated—and spectacular—of Canadian locales.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Melanie Oates is a writer, director, producer, and costume designer based in St John’s. She’s made several short films as well as the series The Manor (2016). She made her feature debut with BODY AND BONES (2019) and was a resident at the TIFF Filmmaker Lab in 2022. SWEET ANGEL BABY (2024) is her latest film.

Producer

Chris Hatcher, Matt Power, and Melanie Oates

Writer

Melanie Oates

Cinematographer

Christopher Mabley

Cast

Michaela Kurimsky
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers
and Peter Mooney

PARTNERS

Telefilm Canada

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