Filmmaker Statement

A portrait of Joan Stockdale, my Canadian birth mother, played by BAFTA Breakthrough, BIFA nominated actor Ellora Torchia (IN THE EARTH, ALI & AVA, MIDSOMMAR). //Built around a stream of consciousness one take performance, the film is a three dimensional reflection of her in me, an undoubtedly flawed mirror. What I do know is Ellora’s extraordinary connection with the character is wholly real; a living and breathing embodiment of my flesh and blood. //Shot on location in Punnichy, Saskatchewan (Canada) and Mile End, London (UK). //Joan Stockdale discovered she was pregnant by her professor, who she referred to as ‘my monster’, shortly before or during a University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada) theatre trip to London. She stayed to have her baby, giving her newborn son up for adoption.  Her diaries and letters were a key source for the script of THE ELECTRICITY IN ME, documenting wry and detailed reflections on life.