How Faded Memories Got Made

Anne-Sophie wrote the first draft of Faded Memories when she was 14. After struggling to raise financing and trying to convince people that she could pull it off at her age, Faded Memories finally got into production in the Fall of 2007, over a 3-week shooting schedule, in the Los Angeles area and Malibu. Anne-Sophie was 16.

She made the film with a professional crew of 60, most of them twice her age, and a cast of 25 speaking roles. They all treated her with respect, and it became quickly obvious that this was one exceptional teenager. Her co-star Brock Kelly, in the role of Lucas, admits that he was intimidated when he first met her, but soon overcame that.

He says, "Anne-Sophie is the favorite director I've worked with.  I've been contained in the past and she lets me free.  I've made a 180-degree turn on this movie from where I was before... I've never felt so confident and at ease on a set before..."

The film is set for a Fall 2008 limited release and has received international press coverage in The Los Angeles Times, Sunday Times (London) Financial Post (Canada), South Wales Evening Post (UK), La Presse, Malibu Times, The Gazette and Elle Magazine.  She has also held TV interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, superstation KTLA in Los Angeles and various leading Web sites.

Not surprisingly, Anne-Sophie’s favorite director is Sofia Coppola, who was herself an actress before turning to directing.

A Word from filmmaker Anne-Sophie Dutoit

“When people hear about a 16-year-old filmmaker they always think it’s a guy. I guess I’ll just have to go along with that and hopefully it’ll change someday!

Faded Memories is a project that comes from the bottom of my heart. It has been a passion project for me as well as for everybody who worked on it. All the characters are based on people I know and experiences I saw people go through. The main character, Cassandra, is a free spirit who is trying to fit in a world where we are told to conform and consume to make us look and feel better. Not only is Cassandra different from others around her because of the way she looks at the world, but she also suffers from a phobia of being touched. This phobia is not a far fetched idea, it’s real.

I did a lot of research on the Internet and talked to several medical doctors about it. I found out that some people suffer from this condition, at one level or another, even if its cause isn’t easily understood.

I am in this industry to help others go after what they want and fight for their ideas to be heard. I want to help others get to wherever they want to be and give back to the world by making movies that will inspire people to be who they want to be. I want people to look at my films and know that if they have a dream, they can achieve it no matter what others may say; no matter what circumstances they face. After all, life is what you make of it and the most exciting thing is to do something everyone tells you is impossible. That's how dreams become true”

Movie Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra (Anne-Sophie Dutoit) has a rare phobia: she is afraid of physical contact with other people -- a condition that has haunted her all her life.

Cassandra and her aunt Maggie May (Ely Pouget) drift from town to town in a beat-up trailer, while Maggie May looks for the next man in her life and her next bottle of booze. When they arrive in Malibu, California she meets Lucas (Brock Vincent Kelly) a handsome teen and for the first time begins to feel for someone. Lucas is fascinated by the beautiful and different Cassandra and slowly they fall in love.

But Nancy (Kim Morgan Greene), Lucas’ mother, has other plans. Her husband (Robert Sampson) is dying and the family will go bankrupt if she can’t marry Lucas off to Pam (Marika Devan), whose parents are wealthy.

Nancy sees how much Lucas is attracted to Cassandra and will do anything to break up the budding relationship. She asks former detective Peter (Nick James) to find out what he can about the two intruders. What he uncovers sets off a dramatic chain of events that change the two teenagers’ lives forever as Cassandra is sent to a mental health facility.

While incarcerated, Cassandra writes dozens of letters to Lucas. But she never sends the letters and she hears nothing from him. It is only when she is released seven years later that the deep mystery of her life unravels.

Amazing Story of Faded Memories theme song

Anne-Sophie was on iTunes looking for some songs late last year, when she stumbled upon a song that had the same name as her movie Faded Memories. She listened to it and was immediately overwhelmed by the passion of Australian songwriter Ian Cocker who played that simple and touching song on his guitar. After exchanging some emails with Ian, she was amazed by the real story behind this song.  

Ian wrote this song in March 2004 for his eldest daughter whom he hadn't seen since she was 13, after she left with her mom. Ian never saw his daughter again, who's now 17, and wrote the song in memory of the timeless moments they had together. Amazingly, this story mimics Cassandra's own journey (the lead in the movie) who has also been taken away from her family. As the song plays full-length at the end of the movie, one can't help but feel the emotional parallel between the song and Cassandra's life.  Ian said "I have missed her so much and I am scared that one day we will pass in the street and I won't even recognize my own daughter."

Cast