Cinema Femme talks to Richa Rudola, Robin Rose Singer, and Lela Meadow-Conner about their film “Cow Heavy And Floral.” Richa directs, and Robin and Lela is producing the short. The film is currently in the fundraising stage, and you can support their project by donating to their fundraising campaign on Seed&Spark: https://seedandspark.com/fund/cowheavy#story

The film will star Jessica Mendez Siqueiros.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to foster a more sustainable path for creatives, especially working parents, in the industry. With this film, we hope to bring greater visibility and access to community, resources, and opportunity for working parents.

SYNOPSIS

COW HEAVY AND FLORAL is a thought-provoking story about a new mother reexamining her identity, told uniquely through a 4-split screen format.

A woman who is equal parts a mother (COW), writer (HEAVY), person (AND), and a dreamer (FLORAL) feels the world closing in on her. Her baby hasn’t pooped in a few days, she has a writing deadline coming up, she has writer’s block but also can barely find the time needed to write, and has erratic, nonsensical dreams in the few hours she manages to sleep. Coupled with a strained marriage and a sick dog, things come to a head for each of her four personas, just as she’s beginning to find her way. We see her identity crisis play out across the 4 frames in the days leading up to her deadline. What will she look like on the other side?

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

This film is my love letter to women, especially those that choose to become mothers.

I know that it is possible for fierce ambition and love for your child to coexist even though they often appear to be conflicting forces. I always knew this on an intellectual level, but as a new mother I have come to understand this on an emotional level as well. The story for COW HEAVY AND FLORAL is inspired by my own journey of motherhood, as I struggle to reconcile all the parts of my new identity. I strongly identify with all 4 personas of COW, HEAVY, AND, and FLORAL and chose the 4 split-screen format as the vessel to illustrate the never-ending juggling act that motherhood presents. The title is derived from Sylvia Plath’s poem “Morning Song,” which I rediscovered postpartum. Plath’s self-examination of her role as a mother stayed with me and found its way, as inspiration does, into this new piece I was writing at the time.

Since becoming a mother myself, I have experienced first-hand the inadequate visibility and accessibility that working mothers have to community, resources and opportunity. Making this film with a collaborative community of mom filmmakers and allies is a tangible way to create an exemplary workspace that catalyzes social conversation around motherhood in the film industry and beyond. With the entertainment industry on strike, now more than ever is the perfect time to support a film that aims to ignite dialogue and action for people sustaining creative careers while also caring for their families.

ABOUT THE TEAM

RICHA RUDOLA (she/her) (Writer, Director)

Richa is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker from India. Her films TAAZA KHOON (FRESH BLOOD), about vampirism and sex trafficking, and THE SEAL, starring notable Bollywood actress Shahana Goswami, have screened at 45+ festivals around the world and won 10+ awards. As an artist she has been supported by The Future Of Film Is Female, New York Stage & Film, Tasveer, Stowe Narrative Lab, and Diverse Intelligence Summer Institute. 

With a multifaceted background in consulting and risk management, Richa combines analytical power with emotional storytelling to create thought-provoking cinema with a heart. Her films often explore themes of identity, consciousness, and the afterlife. She is dedicated to helping people open up to new perspectives, devoted to authenticity, driven by intellectual curiosity, and has it out for bad time management. 

Creative synthesis lies at the core of all her work. Richa’s current projects include a neuroscience-focused story which won Best Hour Pilot at the 2020 Nashville Film Festival and was on Coverfly’s RED List of 2021 TV Dramas, and a film about the balancing act of motherhood. She has served in leadership roles to film organizations such as Pano and Filmshop. She is drawn to stories of courage, even more as a new mother.

LELA MEADOW-CONNER (she/her) (Producer)

Lela is a Creative Producer, Curator and the founder of mamafilm, – a village at the crossroads of art & advocacy where storytellers, changemakers and nurturers come together to champion humanity through a maternal gaze. She has 20 years of experience in independent cinema exhibition.

Current producing projects include Sav Rodgers’ feature documentary CHASING CHASING AMY (Tribeca 2023); the short and feature versions of Nitzan Mager’s RUN AMOK; and THE SPICE POET, in development with Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures. She’s participated in The Industry Academy, a program of Film at Lincoln Center and the Locarno Film Festival and has served on film juries including AFI and the NAACP Image Award. She’s a frequent panelist for organizations including The Gotham, SXSW and Ghetto Film School.. Lela serves on the boards of Los Angeles’ iconic Vidiots Foundation and Art House Convergence, and is a member of the Brown Girls Doc Mafia. She is a mom to two daughters, 8 & 14. 

ROBIN ROSE SINGER (she/her) (Producer)

Robin is an award-winning producer of narrative film, documentary, and TV. Her projects have played major festivals like Tribeca, TIFF, NBC/Universal and have received global distribution. She specializes in true stories and adaptations with big emotional impact and cinematic storytelling. She gravitates toward messy characters, undiscovered worlds, and finding fresh takes on genre to make exploring the human condition exciting.

Singer has worked as a freelance producer, line producer, and production manager supporting acclaimed filmmakers like Lauren Greenfield (GENERATION WEALTH, SXSW/Berlinale/Sundance) and Robinson Devor (YOU CAN’T WIN starring Michael Pitt), as well as scripted TV series DANNY’S HOUSE for Viceland and indie features like rapper Princess Nokia’s acting debut, ANGELFISH. She created the original comedy series, Maturity, and served as its co-EP, winning two Telly awards.