Traverse Media announced on May 19 it has released the “raw and provocative” independent film Sugar, which stars Shenae Grimes (90210, Degrassi) and Corbin Bleu (High School Musical Trilogy, Dancing with the Stars 2013), on iTunes, VUDU, Vimeo on Demand, and DVD.
The film tells the story of a young girl named Sugar coping with PTSD on the streets of Venice, Calif.
Sugar survives on the fringes of society with her outcast friends, running from the torments of her past. However, her new world begins to crumble when her uncle finds her through a social worker, forcing her to confront the demons she has been trying to escape for the past two years.
Based on director Rotimi Rainwater’s personal experience with homelessness, Sugar won the “Film Heals Award” at the Manhattan Film Festival.
During production half of the extras and cast were homeless themselves, and the crew managed to feed over 450 meals to area homeless youth. Certain cast members even donated their fee to a local shelter. Sugar inspired Indiegogo campaigns and local fundraisers have raised over $6,000, meaning the film has been directly responsible for feeding 2,000 homeless youth. The Sugar family hopes to help raise enough money to feed over 10,000 Homeless Youth.
“Sugar is one of those rare films that makes you angry, engaged and motivated to take action. I can’t recommend it highly enough,” Jerry Jones, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C., stated.
Sugar’s cast also includes Marshall Allman (Prison Break, Blue Like Jazz, Hostage), Austin Williams (Michael Clayton, Good Shepherd), William Peltz (In Time, Abduction), Angus Macfadyen (Braveheart, Saw 3), Wes Studi (Avatar, Heat, Last of the Mohicans) and Nastassja Kinski (Paris, Texas, Cat People).
