Genre
Synopsis
Open on a poised Ren, cut on her lip, ring on her finger, hunt in her eyes. Water spills out of the finely-appointed tap. A rumble, she grips the sink, and then an explosion. She’s on the floor. We pull up and out through the hole in the building, and recognize its dome.
Hard cut to five years earlier: Ren – 30, Latina, with crippling student loans, a BRCA gene mutation, and no support system – desperate to find a way to pay the bills, wants to see the world’s truth “up close and personal” while she searches for something to give a shit about. A recovering “peacemaker” from a family destroyed by politics, Ren also just reached “life overtime” having surpassed the age her mom was when she died of breast cancer thirteen years ago.
Ren begs her best friend Joe - a DP shooting news in conflict zones - for a job. For reasons of his own, Joe lies on her behalf, teaches her to mic his kids, and days later, Ren finds herself on a first-class flight to Syria as the new “sound guy.” In a conflict zone for the first time, Ren attempts to hold on to her sanity by badly entertaining the children of a refugee camp, bonding strongly with one girl in particular.
When the girl arrives at the housing the crew have for the night, it seems as if Ren might manage. But then an explosion goes off nearby and in the chaotic aftermath, the girl disappears. Joe drags Ren into the high-adrenaline atmosphere where every moment is high-stakes and “breaking the story” is king. The team rush to the media hotel base nearby to get the story out, and a manic, bacchanalian celebration follows, fueled by the recklessness that comes from experiencing how precarious life is before you know what you want to live for.
Ren heads to her room, toxic with drink and shame, haunted by the image of the little girl. The bed spins. The girl’s eyes flash. Ren sweats. Later that night, Joe knocks on the door -- it’s time to go, there was a call. They have to move on.
Easy for you to say.
Bio
Catherine Eaton’s feature debut as a director and writer, The Sounding, starring Harris Yulin (Training Day, Ozark) and Frankie Faison (The Wire, Silence of the Lambs), has won two-dozen awards on the festival circuit (including four Festival Grand Prizes) and was acquired or North American theatrical release prior to the pandemic. Catherine and The Sounding are the subject of a branded mini-doc by Stella Artois currently running on Hulu. Catherine was chosen for Tribeca's "Through Her Lens" Lab and Grant, and was selected as a Shadowing Director for Show Runner Ryan Murphy's Half Program on the hit Fox show 9-1-1. Her newest series "Breaking News" – based on her personal experience working with freelance news crews in conflict zones – was selected for IFP's Independent Film Week Project Forum. Catherine shares an Emmy with the production team on "The Human Toll of Ethanol" for Bloomberg TV, and did freelance production work for various news crews for five years. As an actor, she's been seen on Broadway, TV and film, and is currently nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Catherine teaches Screenwriting, Screen Directing and The Art of the Pitch at Harvard University, and coaches clients privately on pitching and pitch packages. She has an undergraduate degree in International Law from Cornell University and an MFA from the Univ of MN / Guthrie. Her father is from Paraguay, and her mother is French-American.
Awards History
IFP The Gotham's Project Forum 2018
