*“Lovers in Their Right Mind,” a feature film drama written by Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn and Barrington Smith-Seetachitt, is one of 10 scripts selected for DreamAgo’s 2016 Plume & Pellicule screenwriting atelier, held for one week in a castle in Sierre, Switzerland.
The script – which answers the call for inclusive, diverse casting not often seen in Hollywood films – is the only U.S. and English-language submission accepted into this year’s program, joining projects from Cuba, France, Switzerland, Spain, and Columbia.
Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the story follows an African American woman as she weighs the consequences of pursuing an interracial, cross-cultural, mixed-faith romance with an Iranian immigrant. Its narrative aligns with DreamAgo’s goal to “choose scripts that transform, provoke and entertain while dealing with issues vital to us all.”
The film’s multicultural narrative is deliciously peppered with the savory delights of black Southern and Persian cuisines, and underscored by a jazz-Middle Eastern fusion soundtrack that evokes both the tradition and modernity of the protagonists’ two worlds as they come together.
Littlejohn (“Swirling: How to Date, Mate, and Relate, Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed”) and Smith-Seetachitt (“Children of Others”) are spearheading development on the project and serving as producers with actor Navid Negahban (“American Sniper,” “Homeland”) who is also attached.
Plume & Pellicule participants will workshop their scripts with screenwriters from all over the world under the guidance of experienced consultants.
“Lovers in Their Right Mind” was also a second round contender in the 2015 Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition and placed in the second round of the 2014 Sundance Screenwriters Lab.
