The most recent Tribeca Festival Untold Stories winner Honeyjoon has lined up actors from Jackpot! and Call Me By Your Name as it films this fall in Portugal.
The independent comedy-drama, written and directed by Lilian T. Mehrel, stars Ayden Mayeri (Jackpot!, Mr. Throwback, I Love That For You), Amira Casar (La Maison, Call Me By Your Name, Sarah Bernhardt, La Divine) and José Condessa (Strange Way of Life, Turn of the Tide).
Honeyjoon follows the Kurdish-Persian Lela (Casar) and her American daughter June (Mayeri) as they travel to the Azores after a major loss, with different ideas about the trip, grief and, as Tribeca says, “June’s bikini.”
The Tribeca synopsis continues, “Between happy honeymooners, Woman Life Freedom and their hot philosophical tour guide João (Condessa), they find each other… coming back to life.”
Mehrel says of her cast, “It is a director’s dream to work with talent like Ayden, Amira, and José — who embody their characters with such nuanced layers, connection and presence that they feel fully alive; and much like real life, and Honeyjoon… with a mix of authentic emotion and humor. Ayden’s brilliant comedic and dramatic fluency, Amira’s intuitive gravitas and levity and José’s sparkling dimensional energy play off one another so beautifully. I can’t wait for the world to see them shining together in this film.”
Mayeri adds, “It’s such an honor to collaborate with Lilian – her voice is so completely original and exciting. When I first read the script, I couldn’t believe how honest and specific it was, I felt like she read my mind. Her portrayal of grief and joy and all the messiness in between is so brave and life-affirming I just knew immediately that I had to play June.”
And Casar says she was interested as soon as she read the script, appreciating Mehrel’s “auteur qualities” and saying, her nuanced writing is infused with a subtle form of comedy, a new genre between intimacy and humor.”
Casar adds, “Mehrel is both a visual and poetic director. Her dialogue and the situations she describes are witty. I was very keen to get my teeth into material like this.”
Honeyjoon, which won the seventh annual AT&T Presents: Untold Stories pitch competition at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, is set to premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The movie was developed at the TorinoFilmLab’s ComedyLab and Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab. The U.S.-Portugal co-production is produced by Andreia Nunes with Wonder Maria.
Mayeri is represented by Gersh and Mosaic, Casar by Artmedia and Condessa by Carrelo Squad.
Since 2017, Untold Stories has been providing financing and support to filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, with the winner receiving $1 million, as well as mentorship and guidance, to turn their pitch into a feature film that gets a guaranteed screening at the following year’s Tribeca Festival. The program has supported more than 35 feature films.
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