Sew Torn

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Sew Torn
Directed byFreddy MacDonald
Written by
  • Freddy MacDonald
  • Fred MacDonald
Produced by
  • Freddy MacDonald,
  • Barry Navidi,
  • Sebastian Klinger,
  • Diamantis Zavitsanos,
  • Socratis Zavitsanos,
  • Timothy Ross,
  • Alexander Stratigenas
Starring
CinematographySebastian Klinger
Edited byFreddy MacDonald
Music byJacob Tardien
Production
companies
  • Sew Torn, LLC
  • ORISONO
  • Barry Navidi Productions
Release date
  • 11 March 2024 (2024-03-11) (SXSW)
Running time
95 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Switzerland
LanguageEnglish

Sew Torn is a 2024 thriller film written, directed and edited by Freddy MacDonald. In the US-Swiss co-production, which is based on a short film of the same name, Eve Connolly plays a seamstress on the verge of bankruptcy. The film tells the story of how she comes upon a drug deal gone bad and how her choices at the scene of the crime lead to drastically different outcomes along the way. Sew Torn premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2024.

Plot[edit]

Barbara Duggen (Eve Connolly) is a seamstress struggling to keep her fabric shop alive. After a botched sewing appointment sets her on a quest to replace her client’s lost button, she unexpectedly stumbles upon a drug deal gone bad. Faced with two downed motorcyclists, guns, and a briefcase - Duggen is completely torn. She is forced to pick between three choices: commit the perfect crime, call the police, or drive away.

The narrative presents the repercussions of all three decisions, and the deadly confrontations that result from each as she gets entangled with the case’s owner. Using thread to free herself, Duggen stops at nothing to save her store.[1][2]

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

The film was directed and edited by Freddy MacDonald, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his father Fred MacDonald.[3] Sew Torn is the first full-length feature film by the director and is based on his 2019 six-minute short film of the same name. The film was part of his successful admission to the American Film Institute and made MacDonald the youngest Directing Fellow ever accepted into the Conservatory.[4][5] With his AFI thesis film, Shedding Angels, Macdonald went on to win a Student Academy Award in the year 2022. Sew Torn (the short film) was executive produced by Peter Spears, acquired by Searchlight Pictures and qualified for an Academy Award after a nationwide theatrical release in the USA.[6][3][7]

Being a big fan of the Coen Brothers’ work, Macdonald showed the short film to Joel Coen, whose advice was to turn it into an independent feature.[8] Macdonald’s father Fred, who produced all of Freddy’s short films then looked into ways to raise the funds independently.[9] Barry Navidi, producer of Al Pacino's Wilde Salomé and Johnny Depp’s Modì has collaborated with Macdonald on previous projects before and came on as producer with his company Barry Navidi Productions. Subsequently, filmmakers Diamantis Zavitsanos and Socratis Zavitsanos helped raise a significant amount of funds as producers. The twin brothers had once competed against MacDonald at Heartland International Film Festival in the year 2017, went on to win the festival with their short film, Two of Five Million, and have since become collaborators.[10]

Casting[edit]

Caroline Goodall plays Barbara's client Grace

Eve Connolly, known from her roles in the film, The Other Lamb, and the television series Into the Badlands, plays the leading role of seamstress Barbara Duggen. The ensemble cast around Connolly includes actors known from acclaimed films and series like Schindler’s List, Knives Out, The Act, Hot Fuzz or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.[11]

Sharon Howard-Field and Nathan Wiley were responsible for casting.[3]

Filming and Post-Production[edit]

Filming took place in the fall of 2022 in the Tamina Valley and Bad Ragaz in the Swiss region of Sarganserland-Werdenberg.[12][13][14] The filming for Macdonald's short film also took place there.[15][16] Swiss cinematographer Sebastian Klinger was already familiar with the region from previous projects.[13] He collaborated with Macdonald on multiple films already and is also one of the film's producers.

The Swiss production company, ORISONO, came onto the project as co-producer, providing local know-how and production services. Having co-produced the Spanish feature Color of Heaven by Joan-Marc Zapata, which premiered at San Sebastián International Film Festival, and having acted as local production partner for Peruvian Netflix series Contigo Capitán, ORISONO was familiar with the circumstances of film production in Switzerland.[17][18] Also involved in the post-production of Sew Torn, ORISONO’s co-founders Alexander Stratigenas and Timothy Ross provided one of the finest Dolby Atmos audio mixing studios of Switzerland for the film along with their business partner Soundville Media Studios.[19]

Release[edit]

Sew Torn had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) on March 11, 2024, in Austin, Texas.[20]

Reception[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10.[21]

Accolades[edit]

South by Southwest Film Festival 2024

  • Nomination for the Kickstarter NextGen Award (Freddy MacDonald)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Damon Wise: 'Sew Torn' Review: Freddy Macdonald’s Strange, Striking Neo-Noir Is A Great Discovery. In: deadline.com. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  2. ^ Kristy Puchko: 'Sew Torn' review: 'Pushing Daisies' meets 'Run Lola Run' In: mashable.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Tracy Palmer: SXSW 2024 Sew Torn Interview – Director Freddy MacDonald Explains His Incredible Vision, His Amazing Stars, And That Mettler Thread. In: signalhorizon.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  4. ^ Freddy Macdonald. Directing 2021. In: afi.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Freddy Macdonald. In: swissfilms.ch. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
  6. ^ https://sebklinger.com/work/sew-torn/
  7. ^ Freddy Macdonald. In: sxsw.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  8. ^ Brian Davids: Meet Freddy Macdonald, the 23-Year-Old ‘Sew Torn’ Filmmaker Who Dazzled SXSW In: The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Fred Macdonald Filmography In: IMDb.com. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  10. ^ 2017 Heartland Film Fest High School Competition Winners In: The Independent Critic. Retrieved April 22, 2024
  11. ^ Sew Torn Full Credits In: IMDb.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024
  12. ^ Lorena Tino: Filmdreh im Taminatal. In: suedostschweiz.ch. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Heidi Troisio: The Sarganserland-Werdenberg region is the setting for the Hollywood film "Sew Torn" In: sarganserland-werdenberg.ch. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Von Luzern nach Texas: Ein Schweizer Film feiert Erfolg. In: zentralplus.ch. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  15. ^ Collider - Sew Torn Interview: This 23-Year-Old Is One of the Most Exciting New Directors
  16. ^ Sneak Peek - Sew Torn Interview - SXSW 2024
  17. ^ Christian Bucher: Zentralschweizer Filmcrew verwandelt Luzern in ein Hollywood-Set In: zentralplus.ch. Retrieved April 22, 2024
  18. ^ Zentralschweizer produzieren für Netflix In: 20min.ch. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  19. ^ List of Dolby Atmos Music Studios In: Dolby.com. Retrieved April 10, 2024
  20. ^ Sew Torn. In: sxsw.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  21. ^ "Sew Torn". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 March 2024.

External links[edit]

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