Pain is Temporary. Trauma Is Forever.
The tables are turned on a torturer.
In a mysterious backwoods warehouse, a vengeful father teaches a young man the consequences of causing trauma.
Director Vision for ‘Tutu Grande’
“Tutu Grande” was written many months before the MeToo Movement and Weinstein Era was in full force. The script originally came to me regarding ‘consequences’, or the lack thereof, and what exactly are the proper consequences for causing trauma. Who gets to decide what those consequences are? Who determines what trauma really is? These questions fueled a monologue that eventually was turned into a screenplay. Once the film was ready to shoot, the #MeToo Movement and sexual assault allegations began to surface. I made minor adjustments to the script only to subtly reference a few of these allegations. In short, the film was always inspired by abuse, privilege, entitlement, trauma, and consequences. No one should be allowed to “go around and do whatever they feel like,” The timeliness of the film was purely coincidental. The sexual assault in the story just happened to be where the story took me. But, I was sure to tell a story that explores sexual assault, trauma, consequences, and the ability to perhaps grow and forgive without violence…but ensure that there must be accountability for permanently damaging another human being.