FATHER, THE MOVIE

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

 

First of all, I would like to thank every single one of you for your overwhelming messages of support and encouragement after my initial email.

 

Growing up, I had to lie about my father because I was forbidden to tell anyone who he was. I can’t remember how I knew never to tell people who my father was; the thought to keep him secret seems as old as me. I created a fictitious dad and invented him an identity, along with a fake name, and a fake profession. Perhaps because of this childhood “tale” I’ve always felt something was missing in my life. This documentary is a milestone toward coming out from behind my made-up story, claiming my life fully.

 

This phase of the shoot in California is particularly meaningful because it is where I live and where I first became aware I might not have to hide my origin story. California is a welcoming state, a new valley where misfits and dreamers come with to build a happier life within tolerant communities. Here I grew able to build the strength to speak publicly about my family, more specifically about my father.

 

 

The California leg of the production is taking us on a road trip to hear from a number of subjects, including myself, another daughter of a priest and her mother, and priest who has chosen to leave the church to raise his son and a therapist who works with priests and their struggles with sexuality.

 

My goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the lives and relationships behind the sensational and salacious headlines that typically grab the media’s attention. I’m interested in what is said and felt when the reporters are gone. I want to create a safe space for people who have been either misrepresented or misunderstood or altogether absent from the public debate, to step out from the shadows to tell their own stories.

 

 

With Father, I want to explore what it means to live in secret and in shame as children and families of priests. I intend to look at the role of the Church, and the vow of celibacy, in those hidden lives and relationships, hoping that this process will help us, the children of priests, and our mothers recover a sense of dignity.

 

Our budget is $37,000. We've received some funding and an investor promised to match what we fundraise, so our target here is $15,000. The funds collected will cover labor, equipment rental, insurance, shooting permits, and much more.

 

 

THE CALIFORNIA SUBJECTS

 

Omanasa

A former actress from Germany, now based in California, who fell in love with a Catholic priest and had a baby with him. In the years following her daughter’s birth, Omanasa was conditioned to comply with the priest’s and the Church’s lies.

 

 

Presence

Omanasa’s daughter, and a member of Coping International. Presence is currently in a legal battle in German courts to receive her inheritance, after years of self-described “hiding.”

 

 

Daniel McFalls

Former Catholic priest. He left his parish of St. Mary in Stockton, California, after he revealed to his congregation that he was going to be a father, an unusual act for a priest in that situation.

 

 

Kimberly Resnick Anderson

Certified sex therapist, speaker, and professor, Dr. Resnick Anderson has been helping clients achieve optimal sexual health and satisfaction for over twenty years, with extensive experience working with Catholic priests concerning their struggles with celibacy.

 

 

 

CREATIVE TEAM

 

Yana Bille – Director / Producer

A multi-lingual filmmaker, Yana Billé was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and is based in Los Angeles. Yana wrote and directed Waters, and produced Flow, two films that screened at domestic and international film festivals, such as the Los Angeles Short Film Festival, SXSW, and Venice Circuito Off. Upon graduating from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, she was hired as an assistant to Oscar-nominated showrunner Michael Green on the critically-acclaimed Starz television series American Gods. Yana is a 2018 associate of the Investigative Reporting Project at U.C. Berkeley’s School of Journalism. She is currently a staff writer on the upcoming Netflix TV series, Blue Eye Samurai).

 

Loretta Ramos – Producer
Loretta Ramos is a television producer based in Los Angeles. Most recently she served as senior vice president of creative affairs at Halfire Entertainment, a production company and micro-studio. Previously, she was Bryan Fuller’s producing partner, serving as a producer on such critically-acclaimed projects as American Gods for Starz, Hannibal and Mockingbird Lane for NBC, and High Moon for SyFy, and has produced several short films and music videos, including the award-winning short Sacramento, which premiered at the 2010 AFI Film Festival. She is a graduate of the MFA Producers Program at UCLA’s School of Film, Television, and Digital Media.

 

Olivia Aubry – Producer

Olivia Aubry is a French independent producer and consultant based in London. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University and an MFA (Producers Program) from UCLA. Olivia has worked across development and production in the United States, Belgium, France, and the U.K. Olivia produced award-winning short films and Jon Ronson’s comedy The Dog Thrower for Sky Arts.

 

Valentin Vignet – Producer / Cinematographer

Vignet was born and raised in Paris in a family of filmmakers and theater people. In 2008, after numerous internships and jobs as a camera assistant for renowned cinematographers, he attended the cinematography program at the American Film Institute (AFI) to hone his craft. He graduated in 2011 and worked as a freelance cinematographer. Valentin currently lives in Paris and shoots narrative and documentary films, commercials, and music videos worldwide. In 2017, his extensive documentary experience landed him as cinematographer on Agnès Varda and JR’s Academy Award-nominated Faces Places. Nefta Football Club, a Live-Action Short Film Vignet filmed, was nominated for an Oscar in 2020.

 

Armando Koghan – Editor

Armando is a Los Angeles-based editor. He began making movies during his formative high school years. After attending UCLA, studying Psychology and Cinema, he traveled to South America where he worked as an English teacher. Back in America, his pursuit of storytelling landed him a position in the Silicon Valley, shooting and editing corporate videos. With a need to expand his knowledge of narrative storytelling, Armando attended the American Film Institute, earning an MFA. He has since been editing a variety of projects including narrative, documentary, and commercial. His ability to listen and find the heart of a story, and his talent to shine light on the truest human experience, make his editing skills a great addition to storytelling teams.

 

 

Thank you again for your support!