Genre
Synopsis
BESTIA opens with EVA PEREIRA (late 30s) and her two children, AMELIA (8th Grade) and HUGO (5th Grade), hiking on an isolated forest trail. From around a bend in the trail, a terrifying half-human beast appears and with a scream rushes towards them. Eva reaches out to protect her children but to her astonishment finds herself melding with the beast and crushing her children in her salivating jaws. Waking up with a start beside her husband, CARL (40s), Eva realizes it is a dream. She solicits comfort from Carl but he sleepily dismisses her; a prominent physicist, he’s got an early flight to an important conference and can’t afford to lose any sleep. That next morning, Eva takes the kids to school and while chatting with her friends spots hot, new parent MARK ROBINSON and his daughter LEANA who’s joining 8th Grade. Intrigued by him, she sets off for work.Eva works at a biotech company where she is one of a team developing a treatment for Parvovirus B51, a zoonotic disease mainly affecting dogs but starting to affect humans. Eva and her work buddy OTTO commiserate over their boss, JIM FUCHS. Fuchs dismissively refers to Eva as a “dedicated mom” (i.e. less productive scientist), questioning whether she will complete her presentation for the upcoming conference.
Bio
Award-winning director, writer, actor, singer and songwriter Renée Wilson has been working in film, television and theatre for over 20 years and made her film debut portraying Raelette Pat Lyle in the Academy Awarding -Winning film Ray. Renée is a graduate of Tulane University with a B.A. in Communication and directed and co-produced the documentary Crepe Covered Sidewalks about her hometown of New Orleans post hurricane Katrina. The documentary was the centerpiece film of The New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival and Renée won the Best New Filmmaker award at the Peachtree Village International Film Festival. Wilson’s film work has been generously supported by The Nation, One Foundation, Aepoch Fund, Panta Rhea foundation, Qinti Fund - a fund of Tides Foundation and many individual donors. Following the film, Renée released her debut album, Voodoo Queen and is releasing music from her second record All About Love in 2020. Renée’s work is about exploring the social issues of our time, love, truth, authenticity and spirituality and she brings these pillars to her work as a storyteller whether that be through a song, photograph, poetry, a film or a role. As a passionate advocate for social change and justice, Wilson has worked with organizations like the Pride Foundation, YES!, and HOPE, and appears as a guest host, speaker, panelist, and facilitator at arts and activism workshops and events across the country.
Awards History
Middlebury Script Lab - Screenwriting Residency
Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowship - Shortlist
Djerassi Screenwriting Fellowship
