Pink Lake

Sam (Charles Brooks) and Cora (Alysa Touati) are a couple whose peaceful life in the Gatineau hills is disrupted when Nadia (Marie-Marguerite Sabongui), one of Sam’s dearest friends, visits from out of town. When Nadia asks Sam to be her sperm donor, Cora initially gives her blessing but soon grows apprehensive about the arrangement.

  • Emily Gan
    Director
    CAVEBIRDS
  • Daniel Schachter
    Director
    Three Mothers, Entre chien et Loup
  • Emily Gan
    Writer
    CAVEBIRDS
  • Daniel Schachter
    Writer
    Three Mothers, Entre chien et loup
  • Emily Gan
    Producer
    CAVEBIRDS
  • Daniel Schachter
    Producer
  • Jacob Potashnik
    Producer
  • Marei-Marguerite Sabongui
    Key Cast
    "Nadia"
    Lick, Bethune, The Mission
  • Alysa Touati
    Key Cast
    "Cora"
  • Charles Brooks
    Key Cast
    "Sam"
  • Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky
    Cinematography
    Le règne de la beauté, Catimini, Apapacho, Les fleurs oubliées, Ziva Postec, la monteuse derrière le film Shoah
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 22 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 6, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    100,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Shooting Format:
    2K RAW Digital Arri Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Emily Gan, Daniel Schachter

Emily Gan is a filmmaker from Montreal, Quebec. Her feature documentary "Cavebirds" recently had its premiere at Hot Docs 2019 in Toronto, where she won the prestigious Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award.

Daniel is also a filmmaker from Montreal. He has directed three short films. His first short film "Three Mothers" won the Grand Prix at Cours écrire ton court and screened at dozens of international festivals, including Clermont Ferrand. His last short "Entre chien et loup" stars Monia Chokri. Daniel is also a songwriter who releases music under the name Daniel Isaiah.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Emily Gan and I co-wrote and co-directed Pink Lake. It is a personal film, or rather an interpersonal one, in that it dramatizes an ongoing dialogue between Emily and I about having vs. not having kids.

When Cora first gives Nadia her permission to have a child with her partner Sam, Cora is insecure, and her insecurity leads to assertions of power that threaten not just the harmony of the group, but her own well-being. When Cora realizes this, and sees that Nadia's happiness is allied to her own, and to the greater good, she gives not just her permission, but her blessing. Cora's radical affirmation of the other is an ideal that we aspire to.

We shot Pink Lake with a very small and devoted cast and crew. There were only four crew members on set at any given time, which meant that Emily and I had to wear many hats; from co-directing and co-producing, to wardrobe and makeup, continuity and data wrangling, unit management and administration. Needless to say, our days were full. For our winter exteriors, we piled heavy gear onto sleds and trekked several kilometers into the forest on snowshoes. Production lasted 21 days. It was a marathon, and it was incredible.

Pink Lake's setting, a rural Anglophone town in Francophone Quebec, is one rarely shown in Canadian movies. We look forward to introducing audiences to this beautiful location, and to the people who live there (who make up most of our cast). Though the film isn’t docu-fiction, it is a work of fiction that takes as its starting point the real-life circumstances of its creators and cast. The three main actors – Marie-Marguerite Sabongui, Alysa Touati and Charles Brooks – are close friends of ours. The principal location, a bungalow that backs onto a forest in Gatineau, belongs to Charles. And the story about a woman who asks her friend for a sperm donation – and the conflict that arises between him and his partner when he says yes – was inspired by a real-life event. And in an unexpected and delicious twist, the actress playing Nadia, the woman who asks her friend for sperm so that she can get pregnant in vitro, actually got pregnant in vitro soon after production. She recently gave birth to a healthy baby boy!

We hope you enjoy watching Pink Lake, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

– Daniel Schachter (co-director)