Theodore Schaefer’s hauntingly surreal debut feature Giving Birth to a Butterfly is set to open in select U.S. theaters this May—including playdates in New York and Los Angeles—before digitally premiering on May 16. Cinedigm will release the eccentric fantasy-like drama as a streaming exclusive on Fandor, the company’s indie discovery platform, and it will be available on major digital-on-demand platforms in the U.S.
Giving Birth to a Butterfly Synopsis:
After her identity is stolen, a suburban mom (Annie Parisse, “Friends from College”) and her son’s pregnant girlfriend (Gus Birney, “Shining Vale”) begin to bond and transform during a dreamlike, visually immersive road-trip journey to track down the perpetrators. Dynamically shot on pastel-hued 16mm film, this poetically empowering cult classic in the making is also an intelligent meditation on the faceless underbelly of American life.
Described by The Austin Chronicle as “a strange and fragile story of family, identity, and the unlikely directions of a search for self,” Giving Birth to a Butterfly “mixes melancholy and anxiety with a Lynchian touch” (The Film Stage).
Giving Birth to a Butterfly is co-written by Schaefer and Patrick Lawler, and co-stars Paul Sparks (“Boardwalk Empire”), Owen Campbell (X), Jessica Pimentel (“Orange is the New Black”) and Judith Roberts (You Were Never Really Here).
The film was produced by Schaefer (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) and Daryl Freimark (A Bread Factory: Part 1 & 2), with Dweck Productions’ Hannah Dweck (Berlinale 2023 selection The Adults) and Vanishing Angle’s Benjamin Wiessner (Thunder Road) acting as Executive Producers.
FANDOR is your invitation to cinematic delights, thrilling filmmaker discoveries, and underseen curiosities. Like a passionately curated film festival in your home, FANDOR offers artfully entertaining American indies and the boldest in cult treasures, global voices, and non-fiction storytelling. Our ever-growing streaming library rewards the adventurous on iOS, Android, Prime Video, YouTube TV, Comcast, and fandor.com. Visit www.fandor.com for more information.
