Erasing Eden

On the eve of her wedding, Eden, overcome with pressure at the prospect of married life, suddenly downs a full bottle of scotch in order to numb the suppressed feelings she didn't know she had, although the doubt may have been around for sometime as everyday leading up to the wedding she recorded a supportive and self-affirming message for herself to remind her she is doing the right thing. The following morning, she awakes in the desert covered in cuts and bruises, having no recollection of the night before.

Upon seeking help, she finds it difficult to communicate as her jaw is broken. With the help of some strangers, Eden is mistaken for a meth addict and a derelict. Following a seizure caused by a head injury, she is taken to the hospital by a reluctant sheriff.

In the meantime, Eden's fiancee, Christopher, becomes frantic when he has difficulty locating her, despite the fact that Eden instructed she be left to her own devices in preparing for the wedding. He remains on edge.

Eden undergoes an operation at the hospital to repair her broken jaw; however, when it is discovered that there is a problem with medical insurance, she is offered no further help and is dropped off in Skid Row still dressed in a revealing hospital gown.

She wanders around until she is helped by a kind biker named Sam who takes her to a local shelter, run by a religious pastor. Eventually walking off again, Eden finds a scooter and wanders the streets, making dangerous encounters, until she decides it's time to return home.

She picks up her wedding dress from the store and goes to her apartment. In trying to convince herself that she loves Christopher enough to marry him, she begins to masturbate while fantasizing about him, which ultimately cases her distress. A distraught Christopher eventually receives a reply from Eden and the wedding is to go ahead as planned on the beach. When she arrives, she looks as Christopher and the guests from a distance and decides not to go through with it and again wanders off.

Eden goes to a tattoo parlor, still in her wedding dress, and is having a tattoo design on the right side of her face of a cross which reads "RIP Christopher".

Erasing Eden was shot over the course of one year.[1] Director Beth Dewey worked closely with screenplay writer Justo Diaz, where they constructed the story in a way which was stripped down so that the leading character was left to herself in order to tell her story, as opposed to simplifying the plot having it run at a faster pace. Certain aspects of the film were inspired by Dewey's real-life experiences of blackout drinking, where she admitted that when she was in college she would wake up in places and was unaware of how she go there; Dewey also revealed that during the making of the film, her marriage was beginning to unravel and that the story reflected that.[1] Dewey described the character, stating that "Eden demonstrates that the modern woman no longer needs a hero or villain in her life. She can be both."[2]

The film was shot on a minimal budget using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, while lighting was supplied by a simple household clip light. During the filming, people were mistaken and believed that the crew were photographing a wedding. Dewey mentioned that "it was liberating to roam around with nothing but a bounce board and a DSLR camera."[1]

The story was written so that the character of Eden has virtually no dialogue during the film and we become acutely aware of Eden’s behaviors and reactions. Post production was a much bigger challenge as it was obvious that the story was difficult to follow without dialogue, therefore, Eden's messages to herself were added so that we can get inside her head.[1]

• Breeda Wool as Eden
• Ben Rovner as Christopher
• Jess Adams as Sugar
• E. Shepherd Stevenson as Martin
• Suanne Spoke as Joan
• Germaine De Leon as Bailey
• Carl Bressler as Sheriff Robert 'Bob' Berg
• Mickey River as Pete
• Jerrad Machado as Ellis
• Jeneta St. Clair as Candy
• David Carrera as Sam the Biker
• Ben Fritz as Pastor Frank
• Joanne Busch as Nurse Calista
• Sherri Perry as Nurse Rachel
• Aries Sanders as Admitting Clerk
• Verona Blue as Lila

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