A FEATURE FILM IN THE PIPELINE
“Searching for Heaven”
written by Inger Smith
A film of love, loss and connection.
Linga Productions is looking for a production company to help raise funds and help produce our feature film script “Searching for Heaven”. If you have any suggestions or are able to help please contact us on: Linga@new.co.za
Background and Motivation:
A few years ago my father died very suddenly and I was left in incredible shock and pain. I remember going to see his body, I’d never seen a dead body before, it was so hard for my mind to conceive that this utterly familiar, yet cold and lifeless thing before me was apparently no longer my father.
I began to question death – something that had been such a far off reality in my life and my mind and I wondered about heaven, a place as a child I thought reached just above the clouds in the sky, and this is when I began to write “Searching for heaven”. It is my own personal journey in a way, as I explore how two very different people perceive and deal with the deaths of close loved ones, and how they try to find answers and piece back together their shattered lives.
Synopsis:
The film is based in South Africa and follows the journeys of two very different females. One is a twenty-something, white, middle-class, lesbian artist from Cape Town called Angel, the other is a seven year old Xhosa girl from a village in the Eastern Cape called Leleti.
Their ages, cultures, languages and lives couldn’t be more different. Their stories run parallel to each other within the script until two very separate and personal moments throw them onto a different path that will unexpectedly lead them to one another.
Each experiences the death of a loved one and with seemingly nothing in common, these two very different people find in each other what they could not find with anything or anyone else in their own existences. Their journeys collide and they begin a new journey that allows a subtle and raw look into the awkwardness behind their attempts to bond despite their differences, and the deeper connection they feel towards one another through their own personal losses.
The story explores the realities that come with cultural diversity and the boxes and brands placed upon us. It allows for the idea that there is a deeper connection between us all through a much simpler notion that pulls off the labels and sees us rather as all living, dying, loving and hurting beings.
