Big news from Dogwood Cinematic! Their new film, Our Happy Place, is set for its International Premiere at the Raindance Film Festival on June 20th!
This isn’t your average feel-good movie. Our Happy Place follows Raya, a lonely woman caring for her bedridden husband, who’s tormented by terrifying nightmares. Every morning, she wakes up in the forest, falling deeper into freshly dug graves. As supernatural forces mess with her and the line between dream and reality blurs, she uncovers a horrifying secret buried in the woods—and within herself. Sounds intense, right?
Born from the Pandemic
Believe it or not, this film was written and shot during the pandemic. Working around all those quarantine limitations, Paul Bickel (who also wrote and directed) and Raya Miles filmed everything close to their home outside of LA. As restrictions eased, they were able to bring in two more cast members. You can feel the claustrophobia of being stuck inside during quarantine reflected in the film’s camera work!
Talented Cast and Crew
Our Happy Place stars Raya Miles and Paul Bickel in their feature acting debuts. They’re joined by some familiar faces too, including Tracie Thoms (you’ve seen her in Rent and the hit series “9-1-1”) and Eugene Byrd (8 Mile, “True Blood,” and “American Horror Story”). This marks Paul Bickel’s feature directing debut, after his short films Hollow and Turning Japanese.
We’ll let you know when the film’s release date is announced. In the meantime, watch the trailer below. You can get more film festival coverage here.
