Production is underway in Toronto on Aisha Evelyna’s debut feature Seahorse.

Filming on the drama began on Monday (June 17) and wraps on July 15. It is tentatively slated to release in September 2025, according to a news release.

Seahorse is written, directed and stars Evelyna (pictured). Natalie Novak Remplakowski of Citrine Productions is the producer. Executive producers include Evelyna, Daniel Bekerman of Scythia Films, Good Question Media’s Jordan Hart and Karen Harnisch of Film Forge.

Seahorse centres on a Black woman desperate for stability following a mental health crisis as she is forced to confront her family’s past when her estranged father, now an unhoused man, reappears in her life.

The cast also includes Joseph Marcell, Ruth Goodwin, Brett Donahue  and Alden Aldair.

“This story is very personal, stemming from my deepest fears and personal relationship with my father. As I sought to understand this feeling, I discovered that many others from the Caribbean diaspora have had similar experiences. Above all, my hope is to leave audiences with a feeling of healing, reminding us that love, though hard-won, is always worth fighting for,” Evelyna, whose credits include the shorts Nola (2024), Alex (2022), ShoeGazer (2019) and the comedy series The Drop (2023), said in a statement.

Seahorse is produced with the support of Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program.

It was developed through the Whistler Screenwriters Lab with the support of the Indigenous Screen Office Solidarity Fund, the CaribbeanTales Black Incubator and Studio Access Project, the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab, the BIPOC Film & TV Booster Grant, and the Black Screen Office.

Evelyna is represented by Play Management. Bekerman and Good Question are repped by UTA. Marcell is represented by Markham, Froggatt & Irwin, Goodwin by Edna Talent Management, Donahue by Creative Drive and Aldair by Gary Goddard Agency.

Photo by Ian Carleton