Reach

John has travelled the globe and, after a lifetime of adventure, has grown weak. Now he lives, and loves, through his memories.

John hides in the safety of his thoughts until he is taken by a stroke. His memories remind him of how important it is to survive.

Cinematography is by Stephen Chung.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Tricia Collins

Director’s statement

Tricia Collins says:

“Reach thrives on the protagonist’s need for survival. Across the length of his life he remembers, and forgets, only what helps him to survive. The irony behind these stories is their stark contrast to John’s current desire to let go of life.

Reach is based on my experience of witnessing my father lose his memory due to old age and stroke. When I found my father after he fell, I saw something captivating behind his eyes. I watched his slow recovery and I began researching how stroke affects human perception. I wanted to know how he sensed and saw the world before, during and after the stroke. My dad is a pretty funny guy but when I asked him what the stroke felt like he said ‘It was no joke.’

Apparently a stroke is accompanied by sensory overload. Lights, sounds, smells and sensations flood into the person’s brain. Their ability to speak, move, think and remember is replaced with a vibrant, perhaps painful, immediacy. The past and future are fragmented and distorted in an overwhelming present.

I want to explore how memory, and of course John’s personal journey, could be transformed by stroke. I also want to pay tribute to my father and his memories, which are so precious to me.”

About Tricia Collins

Tricia Collins is a director, actress and screenwriter of Guyanese and Irish heritage.

She most recently directed Occupy My Life, a web series about a pack of ineffective hipster protesters.

Her short film Reach screened at the WIFT-T Short Film Showcase and Vancouver Asian Film Festival and will screen at the WIFT-V Film Festival.

Tricia’s graduate film was a short documentary entitled Memento Vita that screened at the Marshall McLuhan Legacy Festival.

In 2008, she wrote and produced the theatre production Gravity, which toured internationally to Trinidad and Carifesta in Guyana.

In 2006, her magic realist play Dreaming Elevators was produced by La Luna Productions and was directed by the late Lorena Gale. She was selected as one of eight participants in the western Canada Bell Media and WGC Diverse Screenwriters’ Program this year.

On-screen acting credits include several independent films and various television programs.

Tricia teaches acting at New Image College of Fine Arts and holds a Master of Arts in Media from Ryerson University and a BFA in theatre from Simon Fraser University.