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Encore at the AFI Silver Theatre - January 7

FORGETTING CHRISTMAS

Logline: After vowing never to return, a young woman must come home for Christmas to save her father from trapping himself inside his few remaining memories.

Nominated for Best Feature Film: 2023 MVAAFF

Winner of Best Feature Film: 2023 PGFF

Shooting Format: RED, 8k

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Runtime: 99 mins

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Holiday

AUDIENCE

Forgetting Christmas has a majority black cast and targets the African American demographic. The two main relationships explored are the father/adult daughter relationship and the life-long friendship between women. With the main conflict of a parent developing early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease, the audience will mainly be African American women, ages 30-55. Specifically, the primary audience will also have a family member that has a form of dementia and can connect with our characters on the deepest level. According to ALZ.org, 65% of African Americans know someone with Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia.

Victoria Rowell

ACTRESS / PRODUCER
Rowell is an Emmy-nominated, NAACP-winning actress, who co-starred with Dick Van Dyke in the prime time television series Diagnosis Murder (1993) for VIACOM for eight seasons, as well as starring in Daytime television. Rowell was submitted for a Golden Globe Award, starring opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Home of the Brave (2006).

Other credits include Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and other series. She stars in the movie, Marry Me For Christmas and an upcoming feature, What Love Will Make You Do. She has been in multiple films, starring opposite Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Beau Bridges, Forest Whitaker and more. Victoria is currently filming opposite The Blacklist/Man of Steel star, Harry Lennix.

Born in Maine, Rowell was raised on a 60 acre working farm and learned classical ballet from a book. She eventually turned professional and performed with American Ballet Theater (ABT) II and other professional ballet companies.

Melan Perez

ACTRESS / PRODUCER
Emmy nominee (Outstanding New Approaches, 2015) and award-winning actress and producer Melan Perez began her independent film career by debuting at Cons Film Festival in 2011, in a film called, “When Beautiful People Do Ugly Things.” Since then, she has won multiple accolades, including Best Lead Actress at World Music and Independent Film Festival in a project called “The Bachelorette’s Degree" and an Emmy nomination for producing and acting in the series "Anacostia".
This Afro-Latina thespian has played a variety of characters: from a wise-cracking Aunt in “Cut My Hair Barber,” which made its debut on Inspire T.V, to an abuse-surviving alcoholic in the Daytime Emmy-winning series “Anacostia.” Melan was featured in two projects at the 2021 American Black Film Festival, the feature film, "Liam White," and the web series, “Second Hand,” the latter of which she also produced. Melan's most recent works include; "Gaslight,” premiering on Apple T.V.; "Merry Little Switchmas," releasing December 2022; "Once Upon A Time In The District;" and “Love Dot Com,” streaming on Netflix. Her latest series include, "Hush" on ALLBLK TV, and "We Own This City '' currently streaming on HBO.

SUMMARY

A year after vowing never to speak to her dishonest father again, April’s new life in the city is interrupted by a visit from Linette, the neighbor who bought her family’s farm. April’s father, Bill, has been secretly living in the barn that he no longer owns and it seems like his mind is fading.

Her reluctant return confirms her father’s stubborn attitude but April doesn’t see his mental issues until he mistakes her for Marie, her deceased mother. It looks like the early stages of dementia. Bill becomes his own kidnapper as April and her friends try to convince Bill of his need for help before the sheriff’s department arrives.

Just as the police surround Bill and prepare to treat him as a violent threat, April and her small group of dedicated friends have to break through Bill’s doubts and guilt to convince him to get the help that Marie would have wanted.

When family members die, the meaning of the holidays can be damaged, beyond repair.
The early stage of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease in a family member cracks the family’s foundation.
Three plot-lines explore how guilt holds a person in a state of self-punishment.
Family traditions are important until they cause division, distance, and dysfunction.