Whilst on her first date with an older man, an insecure, eager-to-mature young woman must overcome the date, as well as the anxiety-triggered parasite that grows from her diaphragm.

In an attempt to conceal a monstrous parasite, 10-year-old Vasalisa’s mother clothes her in a thick corset. Eight years later the now-teenaged Vasilisa has never taken the corset off, and the parasite has done nothing but spread. Desperate for the validation and love that she never got from her disgusted mother, she downloads Tinder and meets an older man named Michael. She invites him over for a poolside date, and attempts to impress him with a series of awkward lies and flirting attempts. Unfortunately, Michael is not the hopeless romantic that Vasilisa was hoping he’d be. As Michael pushes Vasilisa’s boundaries, her anxiety grows, and as her anxiety grows, the parasite grows with it, rapidly becoming inconcealable.

Who are we? What is this fundraiser for?

Each year during the winter, several student productions are pitched and given the green light to be produced out of Sheridan College in Oakville for their third year film production class, part of their Bachelor of Film and Television undergraduate program. In this program are just over 100 students dedicated to the craft of filmmaking and building a career in this industry. For many of these students, these films are what will be some of their thesis portfolio pieces to help them break into the industry. They are passionate, spending hours upon hours every day to prepare for these productions.

Starting just a few weeks from now, these films will go into production and in just a few months they will be completed. After completion they will be submitted to be screened in film festivals both locally, and around the globe in front of many audiences. All contributions and support go directly to the efforts of creating the piece. Producing any film is very expensive, and unfortunately these students are given no budget to work with to offset the costs.

With the help of your contributions, we will be able to secure locations to shoot in, food for the crew, materials, props, wardrobe and makeup to bring the film to life! Every dollar counts. If you have any questions about the production, please reach out at anytime.

The project leads...

The Director: Naomi Katz is a Canadian student director, writer and production designer who specializes in blending experimental practices with traditional storytelling techniques. Her works often explore themes of feminism, queer theory, and cultural identity. Her most recent film endeavours include directing the experimental documentary A Little Love which explores love from both a poetic and scientific lens, production designing Vat ‘24 and Feeding Time as well as writing several student short films such as Rosie, As Seen on TV, and A Banger Movie. Naomi’s Directing Reel can be found here.

The Cinematographer: Brandon Wickson is an award winning writer, director, and cinematographer who has a unique voice in visual storytelling and stylization. He is currently enrolled at Sheridan College for his Bachelors of Film and Television. With a wide range and versatile skill set as a DoP, he can shoot any project that’s thrown at him. But as a writer, his own voice is rooted deep in horror, noir, and the surreal.

The Producer: Jack Kukolic has been creating films from a very young age and has run his own photography and videography business while in school since he was 15. He has won awards for both his photography and film work in the past, including one short that was featured on Yahoo Finance for a competition it was entered into. In the past, Jack has both directed and produced a multitude of short films over his time filmmaking. He produced four Sheridan docs in the previous semester, and three narrative productions in the present semester. He is also the producer of Domestic Fowl, an indepedent student run feature film that shot last summer.