Seven years old Minnie is enchanted by a beautiful plump blackberry hanging in the bushes at her day care. Meanwhile, her estranged father, whom she has not seen since a toddler, awaits her in the building…
Shooting Format: 16mm
Master Format: HDCAM
Producer: Sergei Krasikov
Cinematography: Mike Gibisser
Starring: Rachel Lee, David Shih, Mami Kimura, Yoko Hyun, Suzanne Barbetta, Mark Vanderhoek
Key Locations: Bushwick, Brooklyn/NYC; Middle Village and Flushing, Queens/NYC
Grants: Brooklyn Arts Council, Jerome Foundation
Fiscal Sponsorship: Grow Brooklyn
Synopsis:
Poisonberry is a short fiction film about an Asian-American child whose estranged father kidnaps her from her loving, yet reckless young mother. Minnie finds she has to make do on her own as best she can with her complicated love for her mother and her father’s ultimate abandonment. Poisonberry is about a child who turns a corner after tasting first-hand the plight of struggling adults. The film’s title is inspired by a quote from Salman Rushdieʼs “Midnight’s Children”: “…because children are the vessels into which adults pour their poison…”
Screenings: