Psychological thriller ‘Transference’ tackles the tough subject of child sexual abuse

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Indian director Aditya J. Patwardhan, and Italian producer Sara Sometti Michaels head up a diverse team of filmmakers and storytellers involved in the making of the psychological thriller ‘Transference’ a product of first-time writer/producer, Nicole Cannon.

The film tackles the difficult subject of recovery from childhood sexual abuse with the theme “Healing comes through forgiveness.”

The film is complemented with a haunting score composed by Danny Cannon and David E. Russo, both known for television’s “Gotham” and “Pennyworth”.
Released Aug. 11, 2020, with streaming partner Amazon Prime US, the story revolves around Camille, well put together trauma therapist, who goes home for her estranged father‘s funeral where she is haunted by memories from the past that manifest as an entity threatening to tear her world apart. That is, until she finds the courage to face her demons and lay them to rest.

“As a director, one of the biggest challenges one can look forward to is to tell stories that matter. ‘Transference’ is one such project for me,” Director Patwardhan says. “It deals with a subject that has plagued societies across the world, and often happens where one would least expect. Victims of sexual abuse and their stories largely go unnoticed because of rigid social norms, the shame of exposure, and lack of support from within the community,” he notes in a statement included in the press release. In the movie, the central character Camille, keeps putting off dealing with her troubled past. In so doing, she puts at greater risk, her present and future: her children.

Transference builds the narrative around the idea that if darkness within is not pacified, it can go beyond the affected person and overflow into the lives of their loved ones, the filmmakers say in the press release. Camille has to struggle. This has been done by telling the story from two perspectives of Camille, as well as her daughter, Sadie.

Based in Los Angeles, Patwardhan is a film director and producer originally from Jaipur, now working in Hollywood. His works include feature films, documentaries, TV series episodes and  pilots, as well as short films.

According to the press release, Patwardhan is one of the few filmmakers of Indian origin to have produced and directed films in multiple foreign languages. Though being from a Hindi and Marathi speaking background, he has directed projects in non-native languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Lithuanian. He has shot films and documentaries in the United States, India, Baltic and Eastern Europe, South Korea, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Patwardhan is represented in Hollywood by acclaimed producer Julia Verdin, who produced films like Al Pacino’s Merchant of Venice, the press release said.