When former high school sweethearts Daniel and Tyler meet again years after a painful breakup, they’re forced to confront the scars of their past – including Tyler’s attempt to ‘cure’ his love through religious conversion therapy. They try to bury the hatchet and find closure, but old wounds may be too deep to heal.
Project Links
Review by Andie Kay:
Separate Roads is a short film about love, growth, closure and moving on. Daniel Garcia wrote (and starred in) this film with Director, Shalina Saleira. The film opens in the past as we follow the voice over of Daniel Garcia in a very poetic, but unclear opening. I found myself wondering if this was unrequited love, if there was a relationship, or perhaps just a secret admirer situation.
Once we got to the present day it started to become more clear just what was happening. I really appreciated the subject matter Daniel and Shalina tackled in this story. It’s important and impactful to be able to address conversion therapy, sexual orientation, and denial. I have to commend the Cinematographer, Elias Chenri for such an amazing job. Each frame was absolutely gorgeous; the camera angles reflected the intimacy of the scenes.
Ryan Redebaugh composed the soundtrack, which I completely fell in love with. Ryan nailed the tone and mood of this film, heightening the emotional scenes with music.
Festival Reviews 