Filmmaker Theodore Schaefer released the first clip from the surreal road trip drama film Giving Birth to a Butterfly, ahead of the world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.

Schaefer’s debut feature stars Annie Parisse (Friends From College) and Gus Birney (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Dickinson), Constance Shulman (Orange Is the New Black, Strawberry Mansion), and Paul Sparks (House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire).

In the film, after having her identity stolen online, Diana Dent leaves her family and goes on a road trip with her son’s pregnant girlfriend to track down the perpetrators. The mismatched travel companions form an unexpected bond as they concede to the hardships of their own lives, and their hunt for answers becomes a surreal journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

Shot on pastel-toned 16mm and intimately framed, New York-based filmmaker Theodore Schaefer’s debut feature resonates with modern myth-making and offers a unique and bewitching mix of American surrealism, ironic absurdist comedy, and the staples of the road trip genre. Set in a wonderfully strange world that lures you in from the start, the film follows the traditional trope of two unlikely paired characters, frustrated by the expectations of their role, and turns it upside down with exquisite surprises, dreamy distractions, and a lingering ethereal sense of loneliness.

Giving Birth to a Butterfly will world premiere on August 9th virtually as part of the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival.

Watch the first trailer clip from Giving Birth to a Butterfly.