Silent Retreat Opens in Theaters June 13, 2014

Opens in Theatres Friday June 13, 2014

Toronto: Carlton Cinema
Address: 20 Carlton St, Toronto, ON M5B 2H5 | Phone:(416) 598-5454

Ottawa: The Mayfair Theatre
Address: 1074 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1S | Phone: (613) 730-6552

Winner Best Canadian Feature – Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Selected for Official Competition – Nocturna Fantastic Film Festival of Madrid

Running Time: 84 minutes

For ticket information, visit http://www.silentretreatmovie.com

Fresh from its award winning premiere at The Toronto After Dark Festival, Silent Retreat directed by Tricia Lee will have a theatrical run at The Carlton Cinema in Toronto and The Mayfair Theatre in Ottawa, opening Friday, June 13th.

With Silent Retreat, director Tricia Lee is fast proving that horror is no longer just for the guys. Described by Rue Morgue as a film that “beautifully blends supernatural horror with the terrors of the real world”. 

Silent Retreat tells the story of Janey, a troubled youth sent to a silent meditation retreat in the middle of the woods in order to avoid jail time. She discovers that the intimidating Doctor, who runs the retreat, is brainwashing the girls to be subservient women. If Janey doesn’t follow his rules, she’ll discover what lurks beyond the trees, and what happens to those who don’t embrace the silence.

For ticket information, and to view the trailer, please visit www.silentretreatmovie.com, like the Facebook page www.facebook.com/SilentRetreat, and follow @SilentRMovie on Twitter.

At its heart, the movie is about women finding their voice and refusing to be silent, a theme that resonated deeply for Tricia. While horror has seen a remarkable influx of strong female voices in the last decade (including Canada’s own Soska Sisters – American Mary), it is still a male dominated world. For Tricia, it was time to add her own spin to the genre - strong female characters and emotionally resonant themes, with classic horror imagery, and a baroque melodramatic flair. It was Lee’s fierce determination to make her voice heard at any cost that allowed her to bring together an incredibly committed cast and crew.

Lead by Chelsea Jenish and Sofia Banzhaf, both talented actresses making their feature film debuts, Silent Retreat brings together some of Toronto’s best actors. Horror vet, Robert Nolan, who has appeared in many critically acclaimed films (Mourning Has Broken, Familiar) uses his extensive genre experience to give the movie its most menacing performance.

Silent Retreat plunges the audience into a terrifying world where even the faintest whisper can be deadly. Catch it in theatres, and remember that the only way to escape the silence is to…SCREAM!

Indie Feature Competes with Hollywood for Crowdfunding Dollars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

You’ve seen the headlines this week about Zack Braff’s crowdfunding campaign that was launched on April 24 and has already surpassed its $2 million goal. You’ve heard about Kristen Bell and her successful crowdfunding campaign that raised almost 3 times it’s $2 million goal for a movie version of her CW TV show Veronica Mars.

But have you heard of Silent Retreat, the $50,000 independent horror movie that’s trying to raise $30,000 to finish the post-production for their indie film on the crowd funding site indiegogo.com?

Silent Retreat’s crowdfunding campaign was launched on the same day as Braff’s campaign, which has sparked a passionate debate on social media sites such as Twitter. Fueled by anger about big Hollywood names who have access and money that the average independent artist doesn’t, crowdfunding proponents seem to feel that Braff’s campaign goes against what crowdfunding was created to accomplish. 

 
At its heart crowdfunding was created to support big ideas and big visions from companies who only have a little bit of money. It's about the global community banding together to support projects that would never have the chance to succeed without the help of an invested group of supporters. Crowdfunded projects have given independent artists a chance to have their voice heard in a world where the louder and popular voices seem to always win. It's about putting the indie back into film to create movies that stem from passion and inspiration, movies like Silent Retreat. 

Silent Retreat is director Tricia Lee's second genre feature film. In December 2011, she attended a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Her writing partner Corey Brown told her "think of a thriller while you're there". And when the kernel from Tricia's experience was fertilized with the creative juices from Corey's mind, so Silent Retreat was born.

Logline:

In this quiet horror film, Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat in the middle of the woods for rehabilitation, only to discover that the men who run it are brainwashing women to be quiet and submissive, and if she breaks the rules, she'll discover what lurks beyond the trees ... 

The indie film company A Film Monkey Production is producing this small feature film with the bare bones investment that was raised from Tricia’s family. The dedicated cast and crew came out and worked crazy long hours, overnight, in the cold, for free to get the movie in the can. Now, they are seeking $30,000 to finish post-production through a crowdfunding campaign at indiegogo.com/projects/silent-retreat to send the film to distributors and film festivals and find its audience. 

Your contribution will help them share the theme of this movie with audiences around the world. This isn't just a bloody, scary creature feature. It's about women letting their voices be heard and standing up because they matter in this world.

“If making this movie has taught me anything, it's that everyone needs to do whatever they can to let their voice be heard. That's why we're doing everything we can to finish Silent Retreat. It's time to give the voices back to indie films. Hollywood may have the loudest crowdfunding campaigns, but we've got the most passionate.” Lee says.

Producer / Director: Tricia Lee
Co-Producer: Chris Agoston
Writer: Corey Brown
Line Producer: Chris Luckhardt
Director of Photography: Christian Bielz
Production Designer: Jennifer Morden
SPFX Designer: Shaun Hunter
Editor: Mike Reisacher
Cast: Chelsea Jenish, Sofia Banzhaf, Robert Nolan