Screening times:
Saturday, August 16, 6:00 PM
Sunday, August 17, 5:30 PM - director attending!
Melanie Oates | Canada | 2024 | 96m
Newfoundland director Melanie Oates will be attending in person to engage in a Q&A after the Sunday, August 17th screening of Sweet Angel Baby!
Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky) lives around the bay in a tiny Newfoundland fishing village. She's a model citizen, a strong part of the community, with a number of friends. Her romantic life includes a discreet connection with the local queer diner owner (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) as well as a married man (Peter Mooney). What nobody knows is that she has a popular online persona, where she shares arty, frequently nude photos of herself perched against the rugged, elemental coastline.
Eliza's side-hustle is presented with a lot of tact and creativity — it's the kind of thing where if she lived in a city she'd be cheered on. In a town this size, when it's revealed, all of her relationships are put in jeopardy.
The schism between modern life online and more traditional small town values is a well-worn thread in Atlantic Canadian drama, but Melanie Oates has brought an entirely different spin on it with Sweet Angel Baby. Eliza may make a questionable decision or two, but there's no doubt where the hypocrisy lies in this patriarchal community, and that's what the filmmaker shines her light on.
Melanie Oates has a strong, singular directorial voice, and directs Michaela Kurimsky to an unforgettable performance.
"For all the sadness and anger this film has to throw on societies and the people within them that have deemed certain ways of living 'improper,' Oates chooses to focus on a moment of triumph. And it’s wholly welcomed and appreciated." - Alex Papaioannou, In Session Film
"Writer-director Melanie Oates has a clear message: nothing on the internet is confidential. But it’s not necessarily a tone of condemnation." - Sarah Gopaul, Digital Journal
"Sweet Angel Baby is a beautiful and heartbreaking look inside small-town identity politics, masterfully deploying themes of conformity, queerness, and sexuality." - Jason Whyte, Get Reel Movies
Melanie Oates is a writer, director, producer, and costume designer based in St John’s, Newfoundland.
She’s made several short films as well as the series The Manor (2016). She made her feature debut with Body and Bones (2019) and was a resident at the TIFF Filmmaker Lab in 2022. Sweet Angel Baby (2024) is her latest film!
We’re delighted to welcome Melanie to Carbon Arc for the August 17 screening of Sweet Angel Baby!
$12 ($11.40 cash at the door if available)
