Labor of Love
Teresa navigates feelings of isolation in the early stages of a quiet grief.
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Hannah Rosalie WrightDirector
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Hannah Rosalie WrightWriter
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Hannah Rosalie WrightProducer
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Rachael FeeleyKey Cast"Teresa"
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Vincent SungKey Cast"Fred"
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Levi HintermeisterCinematography
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Aryn NicoleArt Director
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:8 minutes 40 seconds
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Completion Date:January 30, 2022
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Production Budget:3,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Oregon Short Film FestivalPortland, Oregon
United States
May 29, 2022
Nominated, Best Acting Performance (Rachael Feeley) -
Interrobang Film FestivalDes Moines, Iowa
United States
June 25, 2022
Official Selection
Hannah Rosalie Wright is a writer/director based in the Midwest. She's drawn to stories layered in imagery exploring connection, grace, loss, and wonder. As of 2022, she has directed 8 short films and 2 music videos. Her films have screened at Filmapalooza International Film Festival, Snake Alley Festival of Film, Alternating Currents Film Festival, Sioux City International Film Festival, Kansas City Underground Film Festival, Iowa Independent Film Festival, Spring Grove Caledonia Film Festival, Eagan Art Block Short Film Festival, among others. Her short, CUPCAKE, aired on Iowa PBS on The Film Lounge. She is a 2021 recipient of the Greenlight Grant through the Iowa Arts Council, supporting her project, DAUGHTERS, a trilogy of films, currently in post-production.
In October 2019, a dear friend told me she and her partner were expecting a baby, their first. A few days later, after excitedly announcing to all their family and friends, they experienced a miscarriage. Over the next couple weeks, her body had to deal with grief on its own, slowly and in its own time.
In April 2021, another dear friend experienced a miscarriage. This time, she was already a mother and she had just found out she was pregnant the day before miscarrying. This was a grief she wasn't sure how to share with others. My friend needed silence; her partner, on the other hand, needed conversation. Their grief resulted in disconnection for a time.
Before this point, I had not walked through this kind of grief with anyone. I wasn't planning to write a story about miscarriage, but I let it come out when I felt the story occur to me.
This was the last film I directed in 2021, my fifth of the year. By the time I got to this film, I honestly felt burnt out. But we did it. And doing it was an exhausting, exhilarating reminder of why I am a filmmaker.
Two of our dinner guests told me after our shoot that they had both experienced miscarriages; a third emailed me after: "I am someone who went through the subject matter of the story, and while I’m still not comfortable talking about it, I do really appreciate you telling the story. I am very excited to be a part of it and I just wanted to take the time to thank you for telling a story that many of us feel we can’t tell."