http://www.christa-polkinhorn.com
A chance meeting between a middle-aged woman, a widower, and a semi-orphaned child in the city of Zurich, Switzerland, brings together three people who grapple with a past of loss and betrayal. Six-year-old Karla, whose mother died in a car crash, has a hard time accepting the loss. Anna, her aunt and guardian, struggles with her former husband’s deception and her shattered confidence in men, and Jonas, artist and teacher, mourns the death of his wife.
While trying to help Karla, a talented but troubled child, Anna and Jonas develop feelings for each other that go beyond friendship. The budding romance, however, hits a snag when Anna discovers a sinister secret in Jonas’s past. While the two adults have come to an impasse, young Karla takes matters into her own hands. Together with a friend, she develops a plan to bring the two uncooperative adults back together. The plan, however, creates havoc and as it begins to unravel, Karla is forced to learn some difficult lessons.
An Uncommon Family is a story about loss, lies, and betrayal but also about the healing power of love and forgiveness. It takes place in Switzerland, New York City, and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your novel about?
An Uncommon Family (Family Portrait, Book One): Three people with a troubled past meet in Zurich, Switzerland. Six-year-old Karla longs for her dead mother. Anna struggles with her former husband’s deception, and Jonas mourns the death of his wife. While caring for little Karla, Anna and Jonas fall in love but sinister events in their past threaten their budding romance.
AN UNCOMMON FAMILY is a story about loss, lies, and betrayal but also about the healing power of love and forgiveness. It takes place in Switzerland, New York City, and Guadalajara, Mexico.
2. What genres would you say this story is in?
Family Drama with a touch of romance
3. How would you describe this story in two words?
Poignant and hopeful
4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Midnight in Paris
5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the
most times in your life?)
All songs by Leonard Cohen
6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Too many to list: Novels by Louise Penny, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Ann Patchett, Joanne Harris, Virginia Woolf etc. etc. etc.
7. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would
that be?
Leonard Cohen
8. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Reading, traveling, walking, a good meal and a glass of red wine
9. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
Curiosity
10. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Just write, don’t worry too much about the product, instead enjoy the process.
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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Camera Operator: Mary Cox
WILDsound Writing Festival 