Colombian-Canadian filmmaker Lina Rodriguez has started principal photography on her third fiction feature: So Much Tenderness.

Shot in Toronto, Hamilton and Bowmanville, ON, the feature written and directed by Rodriguez stars La mala noche‘s Noëlle Schönwald, Anne at 13,000 Ft. director Kazik Radwanski and actor Deragh Campbell, and introduces Colombian-Canadian actor Natalia Aranguren. Set to shoot until May 30, post-production is expected to take place in Toronto.

Produced by Brad Deane of Rodriguez’s joint production banner Rayon Verde, the drama is executive produced by Arbitrage Pictures’ Neil Mathieson as well as TimeLapse Pictures’ Albert Shin and Igor Drljača. All are based in Toronto.

Supported by Telefilm Canada, So Much Tenderness follows a Colombian environmental lawyer who is forced to flee her native country when her husband is murdered. Six years later, while leading a seemingly normal life with her daughter in Toronto, someone from her past resurfaces threatening everything she’s built.

In addition to writing and directing the feature, Rodriguez also serves as sound designer and is credited as an editor alongside her Rayon Verde collaborator Deane. Priscilla Galvez also serves as line producer on the project.

Currently, there is no Canadian distributor and sales company attached to the film. Babilla Ciné serves as its distributor in Colombia.

“Just like many other immigrants living in Toronto, I lead a sort of double life that oscillates between my past in Colombia and my present here in Canada,” said Rodriguez in a statement. “So Much Tenderness is inspired by this sensation of living in between spaces and times and by the desire to find a solid ground, because once one embarks on a journey away from home, the dust that rises on the road never quite settles down; it’s something that we must carry with us.”

Rodriguez’s other feature films include Señoritas and Mañana a esta hora (“This Time Tomorrow”), which Deane, former director of TIFF Cinematheque and lead programmer for the Masters section at TIFF, produced and co-edited.

Image of Rodriguez courtesy of Jeff Chiu