Alyssa returns to Paris to finalize her divorce but while spending the week with her soon-to-be ex-husband, she starts to question whether she’s making the right decision.
Written and Directed by Courtney Hope Thérond
GALLERY
Alyssa returns to Paris to finalize her divorce but while spending the week with her soon-to-be ex-husband, she starts to question whether she’s making the right decision. The week is a tangle of revisiting her past while being forced to make irrevocable decisions..
Alyssa left Paris for Los Angeles to pursue her fine arts career and Luka promised to follow. When the Covid lockdowns were instituted things changed and this couple slowly drifted apart with the distance between them. Alyssa has found career and material success in Los Angeles. In finding that so many people from her life in Paris, including Luka, have moved on without her, she starts to wonder whether she was selfish to leave her past life behind in pursuit of career goals. Should she have been happy with the “little life” she left behind? Could she have been?
Alyssa and Luka fall back into old habits and she spends their last week together in her old apartment, sinking back into her former life. She and Luka rekindle their relationship and wonder whether it’s too late to save it, or if what makes this week so special is simply because they know it is their last.
A Time Apart asks us to entertain the “what ifs” in our own lives. What if we could step into alternate realities for a moment to see where other choices could have led us? What if the versions of our lives we previously rejected are now more exciting, more fulfilling than the ones we currently lead?
Courtney Hope Thérond (screenwriter, director) is an award-winning screenwriter and director who has screened films at festivals such as BFI London, New Orleans, Outfest, Nashville, and Atlanta. Her short Rehearsal, which tackles the grey areas of consent, premiered online on Short of the Week, received a Vimeo Staff Pick, and was featured in RogerEbert.com, Fast Company, and No Budge.
Courtney has twice been a finalist at Austin Film Festival. Her pilot Between Us Girls was a finalist in the Screencraft Pilot Launch, a semi-finalist (top 50) for the ISA Fast Track Fellowship, and won its category at Cinestory. Courtney was a fellow in the inaugural Constellation Incubator and her fictional podcast Persistence of Memory was chosen for the Gotham Week Project Market.
Courtney is a graduate of NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, and was a Cinereach Film Fellow. She writes and directs narrative and branded content in Los Angeles and New York. Her past work can be found at www.courtneytherond.com
Adria Baratta (producer) is a producer, writer, and filmmaker dedicated to telling womxn’s stories across platforms.
Adria has been working on the production side of the film industry for over fifteen years with experience varying from $100 million dollar studio features to ultra-low budget independent features, guerrilla short films and everything in between.
When not producing, Adria is a proud WGA member who writes TV dramedy. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
Olivia Cade (producer) is an LA-based producer, writer and performer whose career centers around stories that highlight strong women, complex relationships and the loneliness that inherently haunts the human experience. When it comes to production, Olivia often wears many hats. She has production assisted and talent wrangled for Saturday Night Live, production coordinated various multimedia events for Blumhouse, HBO and Netflix and second-assistant directed several indie feature films, including her most recent for Rocket Jump Productions. On the producerial side, she often works with smaller crews and guerilla style sets where the ability to juggle multiple positions is a must.
Olivia attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts on a full-ride talent scholarship and graduated with honors. She continues to strive for excellence whether in front of or behind the camera. OliviaCade.com
Yahna Harris, Los Angeles-based DP/Cam-Op, is known for her intimate camera-work. As one director once said, “Yahna’s ability to immerse herself into situations and share moments with her subjects foster images that sear themselves to memory.”
She is the co-founder of the production company, 4:3 Collective where she creates commercials, music videos, and narratives. Freelancing, she has worked with clients such as Fresh Truck, Funny or Die, America’s Test Kitchen, and Summits Education. She has also traveled to multiple countries including China and Haiti to make documentaries.
THE INSPIRATION
The script was a living document that is developed, outlined and partially written through rehearsals, then adapted through improvisation and direction on set. The film is inspired by the mumblecore movement, and the directing styles of filmmakers such as Mike Leigh, Richard Linklater and Sofia Coppola.
A Time Apart is a nod to the French New Wave in its free and experimental nature while honoring the long tradition of French cinema’s exploration of unrequited and existential romance.
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