- The feel-good drama feature film Love Sarah will release at cinemas nationwide on Friday, 7 May.
- The film stars Celia Imrie, Shannon Tarbet, Shelley Conn, Rupert Penry-Jones and Bill Paterson.
- "South African audiences are going to love this film that is filled with the perfect ingredients for excellent cinema viewing," said Benjamin Cowley, CEO of Gravel Road Distribution Group.
The feel-good drama feature film Love Sarah will release at cinemas nationwide on Friday, 7 May 2021, in time for Mother's Day weekend. The film stars Celia Imrie, Shannon Tarbet, Shelley Conn, Rupert Penry-Jones and Bill Paterson. The director Eliza Schroeder assembled a predominantly female crew to ensure that the film was shot from a woman's perspective so as to tell an authentic and touching story.
Love Sarah is an original film about three generations of women brought together following the death of Sarah Curachi (Candice Brown), an acclaimed baker on the cusp of fame, who is tragically killed in a cycling accident on the eve of receiving the keys to her first solo bakery. Clarissa (Tarbet), her 18-year-old daughter, is an aspiring dancer and estranged from her Grandmother Mimi (Imrie), Sarah's Mother. Meanwhile, Isabella (Conn), Sarah's business partner, struggles to pay the rent on an empty space where the bakery was to be opened on Golborne Road, a cosmopolitan area of Notting Hill.
After Isabella finds herself legally unable to terminate the commercial lease on the bakery, Clarissa quits dancing and suggests they open it together in memory of her mother. However, with little financial resources to do so, Clarissa finds herself on her Grandmother Mimi's doorstep - initially looking for a bed, but ultimately looking for a cheque book: Mimi has the money that can help them open the bakery.
Unsure at first, Mimi is eventually won round. However, when Sarah's ex-boyfriend Matthew (Penry-Jones), a Michelin-starred chef, turns up, Mimi insists - against Isabella's advice - that he take the helm: it's the only sure-fire way to ensure success. Matthew, however, is distracted from the task at hand by a personal motive that has brought him to the bakery. When exposed, his loyalty is tested, fraying all of their relationships and putting the bakery at risk.
Love Sarah is a film about grief, regret and how we attempt to move on following an unexpected and tragic bereavement. However, rather than being a heavy-handed and morbid exploration of these themes, it is life-affirming and celebratory and told with a lightness of touch.
"Love Sarah is a heartfelt inter-generational film which explores the theme of small family-run businesses and the magic that happens when friends and family come together," said Benjamin Cowley, CEO of Gravel Road Distribution Group. "I'm sure that South African audiences are going to love this film that is filled with the perfect ingredients for excellent cinema viewing, not to mention plenty of delicious baking throughout," he added.