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Logline

A few years after her father’s untimely death, a young woman returns to her family’s lavender farm to repair her strained relationship with her mother.

Synopsis

Liza shows up out-of-the-blue at her family’s lavender farm two years after her father’s death. Her mother, Beatrice, still lives on the property and works the farm. She runs the household and tends to the shop along with a few customers who have become close friends. As Liza attempts to repair her relationship with her mother, she falls back into old patterns and habits. She throws off the balance of the farm’s ecosystem – from questioning Beatrice’s process to seducing the farm hand, Liza can’t seem to settle in without causing problems.

One day, she reconnects with a former high school friend who listens and offers sound advice. Liza and Beatrice begin to finally make progress, but it’s soon destroyed when Annie (Beatrices’ young friend) triggers Liza’s jealousy. All hell breaks loose, and the mother and daughter are forced to acknowledge their broken relationship and family unit.

A Soft Place to Land is a tale of life and loss, and about the hard work that goes into learning to let go.

Meet the Filmmakers

Shalyn Grow — Writer/Director
Shalyn is one of the co-founders of Va Bene Pictures, where she directed and produced two short films: Me and My Shadow and Hang On, Little Tomato. She has also produced music videos for artists such as Kevin Morby and Madison Grumbles. Shalyn has taken several NYU Tisch Pro courses, including Sight & Sound (Caran Hartsfield) Screenwriting (Charlie Schulman) and Film Workshop (Shivani Khattar).

Asya Hildenbrand — Writer/Director
Asya is one of the co-founders of Va Bene Pictures, where she has directed and produced two short films: Me and My Shadow and Hang On, Little Tomato. She has also produced music videos for artists such as Kevin Morby and Madison Grumbles. Asya completed the NYU Tisch Pro course, Fundamentals of Cinematography.

Josh Riedford — Producer
Josh is a film and music producer and co-owner of the production company Mr. Pictures alongside writer/director David McCracken. He has produced numerous short films as well as the award-winning 1970s-inspired thriller feature film Bullitt County, which premiered in AMC Theaters nationwide in 2018 and was released on Netflix in 2019.

Victoria Britton — Producer
Victoria is known for films that explore identity, womanhood, and spirituality. In 2024, her documentary Bloom received the $10K Grand Prize at PitchDox. Her work has screened at Tribeca, Heartland, and Hollyshorts film festivals and is also available on The Atlantic.

Joe Frank — Cinematographer
Joe has DP’d two feature documentaries: Finding Hygge (2019) and IMBPREZ (2021). In addition to his documentary work, he has shot several narrative short films including Dead End Dreams (2024).

Zac Cooper — AD/Producer
Zac is the writer/director of “It Happened One Weekend” and producer for “Last Days of Summer” – which won the Indiana Spotlight Narrative Award at the 2024 Heartland International Film Festival. His next feature, “God I Want You,” is currently in post-production.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.