GRIEF
Kelly Cochran-Yzquierdo
Please consider supporting this artist and her work.
LOGLINE
LGBTQ+ Drama Short Film
Following the sudden, suspected suicide of her wife, a grieving widow must navigate the shattering weight of her loss while facing a tense confrontation with her conservative mother-in-law over her late wife's remains.
SYNOPSIS
Grief is a poignant exploration of loss and fractured families. Clare is left utterly devastated after her wife, Samantha, dies in a tragic car crash that investigators rule a suspected suicide. As Clare spirals into a deep depression, pouring out her wife's medications and clinging to fragmented memories, she is accosted by Samantha’s fiercely religious mother, Janice. Janice, who continually pressured Samantha about her soul and believes Jesus is the only way to forgiveness, demands Samantha's ashes and a cherished gold locket. After a fraught encounter, Clare peacefully surrenders a small urn and the locket to Janice in the foyer, before finally breaking down alone to release the raw, agonizing scream she has been holding inside.
WRITER / DIRECTOR ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Through From the Fringe Entertainment, my goal is to craft narratives that amplify underrepresented voices and explore the raw, unfiltered realities of the human experience. Grief is an intensely personal exploration of love, loss, and the devastating intersections of identity and familial expectation. By centering the story on Clare's silent, suffocating mourning and her confrontation with Samantha's fundamentalist mother, the film strips away the polished veneer of grief. It forces us to look at the collateral damage left in the wake of unresolved religious conflict and mental health struggles. This short film is designed to be an intimate, claustrophobic journey that focuses on the quiet moments of a shattered life, ultimately building to a singular, necessary release of emotion.
Kelly Cochran-Yzquierdo, MFA
Kelly is an award-winning screenwriter, producer, and the founder of From the Fringe Entertainment. Established in 2023, her production company is dedicated to giving a platform to underrepresented voices in Hollywood, with a specific focus on allowing LGBTQ+, women, and BIPOC filmmakers to tell authentic stories. A seasoned educator, Kelly currently serves as a Professor of English at Oklahoma City Community College following a distinguished seventeen-year tenure at Northern Virginia Community College. She holds an MFA in Writing for Film and Television from Emerson College. Kelly’s accolades include being a 2023-4 Stowe Story Labs Participant, and winning a New York Script Award for Best TV Pilot and the Richmond International Film Festival for Best Original Drama Screenplay.
Stowe Story Labs alumni can initiate an application for fiscal agency here.
