Synopsis
A devout Nigerian asylum seeker must choose between his faith and the man he loves, until one night blurs the line between sin and salvation.
Our Budget, Tiers, & Perks
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The total production budget for Between Heaven & The Heart, encompassing both the short film and documentary featurette, is $45,000.
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Your contribution secures all benefits from our Legacy Collective Tier, PLUS:
A Single Title Card Executive Producer Credit at the start and end of the film
An official IMDb Executive Producer Credit
An optional Company Credit
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Your contribution secures all benefits from our Legacy Collective Tier, PLUS:
An Associate Producer Credit at the start and end of the film and documentary
An official IMDb Associate Producer Credit
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Your contribution secures all benefits from our Legacy Collective Tier, PLUS:
The Director’s Cut of the film, along with the script breakdown
Official printed strips from the 35mm film footage
A script consultation on a project of yours
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The Legacy Collective is the inception of a community of 100 people who will share an Executive Producer credit. As of November 4, 2025, there are 80 spots remaining, with members already joining from eight countries: the United States, Germany, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Nigeria, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Besides the collective EP credit, here are other benefits you get as a member:
A feature in the documentary and on the exclusive “Wall of Founders”
All-Access Pass to private screeners, exclusive BTS, and production updates
An invitation to festival premieres and a private Q&A with the cast and crew
Tickets to the cast and crew wrap party
Exclusive signed production memorabilia
Be the very first to see the finished film
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Give any amount to receive a Special Thanks credit at the end of the film.
The Origin Story as told by Writer-Director John C. Frederick
I first decided I was going to tell this story when I received a simple piece of advice: “Write what you know.” Well, for a long time, what I knew was that I had failed as a pastor’s kid because of my sexuality. I grew up wedged between two absolutes: the love of God and the fear of love itself.
This film is my attempt to dissect that seemingly impossible choice, not as a debate, and not didactically, but as a visceral, honest cinematic experience. “Can my queerness, and that of millions around the world, coexist with our faith?”
COMPS
Like Chiron, our protagonist's struggle unfolds through silence and restraint. But while Moonlight explores toxic masculinity, our story confronts the weight of religious dogma and the cost of denying one’s truth.
As with Past Lives, our film sits in the ache between what is and what could have been. It is about love interrupted by circumstance. With ours, it is faith and fear, not distance, that keep the lovers apart.
We bathe first love and quiet moments in sunlight, but where Luca Guadagnino’s sun evokes sensuality, ours feels like the ever-watchful eye of God, under which love and faith exist in tension.
Similar to All of Us Strangers, our film uses memory as a visceral, ever-present force that shapes reality. But where its memories are of love and loss, ours are of faith, fear, and the trauma our protagonist has endured.
Why This Film?
In a landscape full of trauma-forward queer films and heavy-handed metaphors, Between Heaven & The Heart moves in the opposite direction. It’s not loud or preachy. It doesn’t explain itself or beg to be understood. Instead, it trusts the audience to listen to what’s unspoken or barely allowed to surface.
The story lives in a kind of stillness and truth that's rarely explored with this level of intimacy. There are no villains here. It’s just two men, largely in one room, carrying a question neither dares to ask aloud. That restraint honors generations of people who have long searched for a way to explore this tension without shame or caricature on the big screen.
Because when desire and faith meet without a model, it often leaves us thinking we’re the only ones carrying something too shameful to name. But in reality, others have been here too.
MOODBOARD
OUR TEAM
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Pithai Smithsuth
Cinematographer
Pithai is a renowned cinematographer known for his dynamic composition and evocative lighting. His recent credits include Second Unit DP on The White Lotus (Season 3), Chief Lighting Technician on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Camera Operator for Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, among others.
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Aacharee "Ohm" Ungsriwong
Editor
Ohm is a brilliant editor whose work includes Apple TV’s Pachinko and the feature film Familiar Touch, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The first feature she edited, In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire, had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2012, marking the launch of her career. In 2017, Ohm received Thailand’s National Film Award for Best Editor.
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Anthony Campanella
Producer
Anthony is a filmmaker whose short Daddy Issues premiered at Tribeca in 2023. Earlier this year, he completed his time as the Co-President of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society and has previously worked at Lionsgate and WME. His latest film, Sunday Sauce, starring Oscar nominee Cathy Moriarty, had its premiere at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts festival.
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Rachael Sonnenberg
Producer
Rachael is a filmmaker and co-founder of Winsome Films. She is a recent graduate from NYU Tisch, where she received an MFA in writing and directing. Her undergraduate thesis film (Pledge It) screened internationally at thirty-five film festivals, earning awards for Best Comedy, Best Student Film, and Excellence in Directing and Casting Child Actors. Her most recent short, Le Parrot, premiered at the Tribeca Festival in 2024.
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Tatum Millet
Producer
Tatum is a New York–based writer, actress, producer, as well as the co-founder of Winsome Films. She’s a graduate of Columbia Law School and a former attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Tatum brings profound creativity and a strong legal background to her work in film and television. Alongside her creative partner Rachael Sonnenberg, she has produced numerous projects, including the award-winning short film Pledge It.
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Eric Huang
Music Composer
Eric is an award-winning composer and alumnus of USC’s Thornton School of Music. He won Best Original Score at the 2024 DC International Cinema Festival for The Stranger, The Lover, The Setting Sun. In June 2025, he was selected by Emmy-nominated actress Issa Rae for her Find Your People program to compose the score for a short film she is executive producing.
SUPPORT US
On Monday, August 11, 2025, a Christian nationalist formally petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
So far this year, citing religious grounds, at least nine states have introduced bills to block new marriage licenses for LGBTQ+ couples or passed resolutions urging the Supreme Court to reverse Obergefell as soon as possible.
Many doubt such a reversal can actually happen, but Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, by the same Supreme Court.
On Sunday, May 25, 2025, it was reported that Andry Hernández, a gay asylum seeker, was wrongly detained and deported to an El Salvador mega-prison. The U.S. government cannot confirm whether Andry is alive or dead.
Immigrants across the country are either living in fear or being treated like Andry. This is a project that lives at the intersection of this very crucial time in history, and your contribution can help us bring it to life.
FAQs
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It’s a semi-autobiographical film inspired by John’s life.
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Principal Photography is scheduled for January 8-11 in Los Angeles.
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We’re shooting on 35mm film.
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More information will be provided as we get closer to the release date. Please follow our socials below to stay updated.
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For certain roles, yes. Follow our socials below for official casting calls and submission deadlines.
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Unfortunately, the set is closed to the public.