By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The movie recently had its world premiere at the Nightmares Film Festival, where it won a pair of awards.
Black Fawn Distribution has acquired PEPPERGRASS, with plans to open the film in Canada in early 2022; further North American release details are forthcoming. Chantelle Han directed with screenwriter Steven Garbas, and also stars alongside Charles Boyland, Michael Copeman, Philip Williams and Craig Porritt. In PEPPERGRASS, according to the PR, “a pregnant restaurateur plans to steal a priceless truffle from a reclusive veteran. Set during the pandemic, PEPPERGRASS is a snow-streaked Northern Gothic heist set against a stark, unforgiving landscape. With striking cinematography and a dark sensibility, the film captures a rough rural tone that enhances the danger of isolation and the pressure of high stakes.” There’s also a giant pig involved, seen in the second photo below…
“We went with Black Fawn Distribution because they’re not only passionate about films with blood, but also films that feature a strong narrative focus,” says Han, who won Best Lead Performance at Nightmares Film Festival, where the movie also took Best Overall Feature. “The real challenge of filmmaking is risking everything to make something you love and then never having it find the right audience. We went with Black Fawn Distribution to ensure that doesn’t happen to our story.”
Garbas adds, “For a month, in the cold, in a lockdown, in a forest without a road, in a motel without cleaning services, night shoot after night shoot after night shoot–we managed to shoot this film. By the end, we were just like the characters in the film: hungry, filthy and isolated. We loved the story, though, and we’re so glad that the effort ended up on the screen.”
“PEPPERGRASS is a wonderfully shot film that underlines the power of independent cinema,” says Black Fawn Distribution’s sales manager, CF Benner. “We knew this was a project that we wanted to get involved with as soon as we sat down and heard the passion that came from the filmmaking team. With the odds stacked against them, they went out into the wilderness and crafted a really sharp piece of storytelling–and those are the types of films that we want to be a part of.” Next stop for PEPPERGRASS is its Canadian premiere November 19 at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival in Toronto.
