Nice Film Market, Film Fest International, Nice, France
Plaza Theatre, Calgary, Alberta, CAN
Michener Institute, Toronto, Ontario, CAN
Amsterdam International Filmmaker Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Central Alberta Film Festival, Red Deer, Alberta, CAN
Arizona International Film Festival, Tucson, AZ, USA
PLIDA International Perinatal Bereavement Conference, St. Louis, MO, USA
International Conference on Stillbirth, SIDS and Infant Survival, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Platform Film Festival, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Metro Cinema, Garneau Theatre, Edmonton, AB, CAN
Film Awards
Audience Choice Best Film 2018, Central Alberta Film Festival
Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature, Central Alberta Film Festival
Semi-Finalist, International New York Film Festival
Finalist, US Hollywood International Golden Film Award
Semi-Finalist, Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards
Finalist, International Women’s Film Festival
Semi-Finalist, Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards
Finalist, US Hollywood International Golden Film Award
Finalist, International Women’s Film Festival
Film Trailer
Q&A with the Filmmaker
Expecting Sunshine: A documentary film about the loss of a child and life afterwards
ABOUT THE FILM
The documentary film, Expecting Sunshine, brings together the poetic prose and visual incarnations of the memoir, as experienced through the innovative, sometimes surreal, sensibilities of its creator.
The film documents an actual pregnancy of Alexis Marie Chute, as she grapples with the unique challenges of having a child after the death of child. With poignant narration, along with interesting interviews of more than twenty bereaved parents – women and men – and health care professionals, the documentary casts fresh light on a private and isolating experience.
The film contains scenes across multiple seasons, and numerous locations – from Alberta, Canada, to Sedona, Arizona. It features real-life medical appointments, artistic manifestations, thought-provoking interviews with experts and bereaved families, and a comprehensive view from conception till the actual delivery. The film successfully avoids being a bland, sterile or sentimental expose. Instead, it is a collaborative and culturally relevant work of art.
As a filmmaker, Alexis Marie brings together her unique skill set as both a visual and literary communicator. She exposes unseen emotional and psychological challenges, curating them into an artistic presentation that will live on in the minds of viewers long after.
Expecting Sunshine is an inspiring story of love, loss, and the bonds of family that can never be broken.
Who Should Watch Expecting Sunshine Documentary
Grieving parents who have lost a child during pregnancy
Parents struggling to cope after losing a living child
Couples trying to conceive (TTC) after loss
Parents already pregnant after loss
Extended family and friends of the bereaved parents looking to understand the experience of loss and pregnancy after loss
Doctors, nurses, radiologists, counselors, and other medical professionals needing to offer compassionate care
Those who enjoy challenging, thought-provoking, and artistic documentary films
Families can watch the film together and discuss.
The film can be used as a training resource for counselors, nurses, doctors, and other professionals and volunteers.
What Viewers will Take Away from the Film
Realize that we are not alone in our grief, or on the healing journey
Witness different responses to loss, and differing ways of coping
Learn how loss impacts faith, marriage, and identity
Watch the full cycle of loss, grief, healing, and pregnancy after loss within one family
Understand how the grief experience is different from person to person, and yet a universal experience where we can relate to each other
Hear from medical professionals who have supported bereaved parents
Learn how bereaved parents describe their loss
Appreciate the struggles and stresses of parents pregnant again, and parenting, after loss
Be inspired to have healthy and healing conversations about grief and loss
Become more empathetic to the grievers you are wishing to support
Learn how to care for family and friends who have lost a child
BULK ORDER Expecting Sunshine memoir and documentary film! Special pricing available.
Expecting Sunshine book and film are compassionate resources for bereaved families struggling to make sense of their grief, wishing to find peace and hope as they hold onto the love for their child that died, and are considering or are already pregnant again after loss.
Expecting Sunshine is also an invaluable tool for support volunteers and professionals, and those in medical fields relating to maternal health. Understanding the private experiences of bereaved parents helps care providers in offering the most empathetic and tangible support possible.
It will make a lot of mamas feel permission to grieve and to talk about their losses
“I’m watching your trailers and bawling my head off, I’m so overcome with emotion. I appreciate your candidness and the words you say resonate so much. Even though our babies aren’t with us, we still have that strong love. When you talked about feeling intense blues after Luca, I could get that. Even though I’m soon to have our rainbow baby, I’ve been shedding a lot more tears about losing our Eli and talking about him a lot more. It’s so true that they are a part of us and that part of us will never die. I’m really looking forward to your documentary and want to thank you for your honesty. I know it will make a lot of mamas feel permission to grieve and to talk about their losses.”
- Leanne Brooks
Bereaved mother to Eli
Alexis Marie Chute
Expecting Sunshine touched my heart
“Expecting Sunshine touched my heart. I never met the child my Husband and I lost 15 years ago. My husband and I never gave that child a name. I feel as though we never properly grieved the loss of our first child. Though in some ways I feel as though I never stopped grieving the child who I never had the chance to meet. Expecting Sunshine taught me that losing a child at any point during pregnancy, birth or even years later, that I am a mother to ALL my children. I care and dedicate my life and soul to nurturing, loving and protecting my children, earth bound holding my hand or smiling upwards and never forgetting the child I remember as my angel. Thank you Alexis Marie Chute for bringing Expecting Sunshine to life. Your film has brought me peace, comfort, permission to grieve, but most importantly knowledge in knowing how to celebrate the life of my child that I never met. Thank-you!”
- Erika Breen
Artist and Educator
Alexis Marie Chute
This movie is a work of art
“Documentaries often have this need, this urge to tell something to the viewer, whether it was a critique of some situation in a faraway land, during a distant period in time or merely an explanation of economical phenomenons that had a global footprint, recently. On the other hand, some documentaries are stories that captivate audiences. “Expecting sunshine”, a documentary made by Alexis Marie Chute, is exactly that. Based upon the idea of giving birth to a child after having lost a child. On first glance, this documentary might seem like one of the abundant movies that emerge from the Hollywood abyss but it is not. This movie is a work of art (and this is not a cliché, given the fact that Chute is an artist) that shows the fragility of life, the delicate aspects of a mother’s love and that reiterates the idea of “gone but never forgotten”. Despite having to talk about a topic that seems dark and despairing, the documentarist and protagonist uses a palette of positivity, warmth, when talking about her “still born” son.”
- Alex Micati
Blogger
Alexis Marie Chute
(An) eye-opening and creative journey
“It is 2016. It should no longer be taboo to talk about how babies can die and how subsequent rainbow babies can never replace the other baby. Artist, writer, and photographer Alexis Marie Chute tackles this taboo head on in the documentary Expecting Sunshine. Join her on her eye-opening and creative journey of recovery.”
- Man-Sum Yau
Writer and Veterinarian
Alexis Marie Chute
The first film of its kind
“The first film of its kind that tackles the honest emotions of grief, fear and hope the mom expecting again after a loss experiences during her next pregnancy. We need more films like this that raise awareness about the struggles of pregnancy and parenting after loss.”
- Lindsey Henke
Pregnancy After Loss Support
Alexis Marie Chute
An emotional and honest film
“The documentary Expecting Sunshine is an emotional and honest film that captures families working on overcoming the pain of loss and expressing the never ending love that they have for their child.”
- Jessica Pagee
Alexis Marie Chute
Beautiful and moving and important.
- Gene Luetkemeyer
MFA, Author of Penitentiary Tales, A Novel
Alexis Marie Chute
Straight from the heart, introspective and challenging
“Everything Alexis Marie does is straight from the heart, introspective and challenging. Traveling with her through loss, grief, growth and renewed perspective on life promises to be an insightful journey. Expect sunshine and to walk away changed.”
- Donloree Hoffman
Executive Coach and Author of If I Die, Please Bring Cheesecake to My Funeral
Alexis Marie Chute
A beautiful inspiration
“These clips were a beautiful inspiration to remind me to care and pray for those who grieve the loss of a child.”
- Colleen Lloyd Hildebrand
Alexis Marie Chute
There is nothing else like this
“So powerfully capturing my emotions so far on this rainbow journey. There is nothing else like this…. great to see more opportunity to share our stories with the world!”
- Amanda Mayberry
Alexis Marie Chute
BACKSTORY
Expecting Sunshine the Documentary tells the story of writer and artist Alexis Marie Chute, as she sets out to rediscover her identity as a mother – and as a woman – after one of the most primal types of losses; the death of her newborn at birth. The story is framed within the three trimesters of her pregnancy that followed. Through artistic visuals, profound interviews, “luminous prose and with such clear-eyed insight,” Chute reveals the turbulent 40-week experience of having a baby after loss. Poignant, touching, tender and inspiring, Expecting Sunshine “makes death a starting point for the continuation of life.”
In 2010, Alexis Marie Chute’s son Zachary died at birth. He had a random genetic condition and a large tumor around his heart. Doctors predicted that Zachary would be stillborn, but he was born alive. He never made a sound or opened his eyes. Alexis Marie and her husband Aaron rocked and sang to Zachary. They only had a moment with their son before he died – and that was the moment that changed their lives forever.
When Alexis Marie got pregnant again with her next child, at first she was thrilled. Soon, though, that excitement turned to worry and a debilitating fear for her next baby’s life and safety. Would this child suffer the same fate?
In the 40 weeks that followed, she realized she needed to address her grief for Zachary, which she had tried to bury, before the birth of the child that followed. That is when Expecting Sunshine the Memoir was born; it became a creative narrative of survival. Expecting Sunshine the Documentary is the visual and literary manifestation of that experience.
The topic of Expecting Sunshine the Documentary is often taboo and uncomfortable for people who have not experienced this type of loss – which is exactly why there is a need for this film. Many do not know what to say or how to empathize with the bereaved parents, despite wishing to help. What this means is that families can feel isolated and suffer in silence, especially when they struggle with subsequent pregnancies.
This film will encourage discussion, community and healing for so many people. It will start a dialogue. It will shed light on a secret pain. It will be an education on healthy (and not-so-healthy) approaches to grief and healing. It will also show how creativity can be a balm to the wounded spirit. In this way, Expecting Sunshine will speak to viewers on many levels.
PREGNANCY AFTER LOSS
What many do not realize is that pregnancy after loss is actually an incredibly difficult time. Some believe conceiving after loss is a natural state of moving-on or a helpful distraction. On the contrary, it often brings to the surface many unaddressed issues, relational strains and fears.
Expecting Sunshine the Documentary chronicles Alexis Marie Chute’s experience of surviving pregnancy following Zachary’s death and navigating the delicate balance of anticipation and anxiety.
As an artist and writer, the perspective Alexis Marie brings to this project is a surreal and intimate one. She invites viewers into her creative perceptions of grief and healing, presenting her darkest days and also her moments of hard-earned resiliency and triumph. Anyone who has lost a person will connect with her reflections and be inspired by her stubborn determination to find the sunshine, the hope in times of personal trials.
STATISTICS
It is very likely that you or someone you know has been affected by the death of a child. The statistics around baby loss are heartbreaking and are worth noting as they relate to the film.
What do the statistics around baby loss mean in practical language? They equal a huge number of people that are affected by miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS and other types of losses of children – every year, around the world.
Alexis Marie Chute and her crew believe that family is everything. Children are incredibly important, and their deaths leave a profound gap in the hearts and lives of not only their parents, but also in their extended families and communities.
Filmmaker Alexis Marie Chute believes in celebrating each child’s life, however brief, and honoring the individual experience of grief. She is a proponent of what she has termed, “The Healthy Grief Movement,” which would see that there is a compassionate vocabulary to talk about the loss of a child, that everyone receives support no matter their race, religion, orientation, or gender, and that we can create positive rituals to celebrate those who have died.
Alexis Marie is a visionary artist, writer, advocate and filmmaker. She has won many awards including the John Poole Promotion of the Arts Award, Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40, and was named an “Emerging Canadian Photographer” by Photo Life Magazine. Alexis Marie has her BFA in visual art and her MFA in creative writing, often combining these passions. Proud mother to four, she’s also a fan of running, chocolate and reality TV.
Alexis Marie Chute
Aaron Chute
Camera Operator, Location Sound, Gri
Aaron is a people-person with a brain for technology and creative problem solving. By day he is the Vice Principal of a K-9 school in rural Alberta, but he has also been a photographer for over a decade and builds computers in his spare time. Aaron has his Masters of Education and is Google Certified. He is a dynamic public speaker, a family man, and a golf enthusiast.
Alexis Marie Chute
Tom Lim
Camera Operator, Production Assistant, Editor
Tom is a lifelong resident of Edmonton and is one of the most humble people you’ll meet. His talents range from his profession as a structural engineer to his technical skills and passion for photography and videography. It all started as way to take better photos of his kids, which exploded into an ongoing technical challenge. Tom proudly admits that, even in his mid-30s, he has never had a cup of coffee.
Alexis Marie Chute
Lori-Ann Huot
Fundraising, Marketing & Promotion
Lori-Ann Huot is the co-founder and Program Coordinator for the Angel Whispers Baby Loss Support Program. She and her husband Rene have 4 daughters that they hold in their arms – Sabrina (19), Alexis (16), Jaedyn (13) & Sydney (12), and 2 daughters that they will forever hold in their hearts; Loren & Brooklynn. Their personal experiences have helped Lori-Ann to discover her passion; providing hope and healing to families devastated by the loss of a baby.
Alexis Marie Chute
Shereen Pennoyer
Production Assistant, Costume Designer
Shereen began designing clothing when she was ten. Her love of sewing soon followed. Shereen studied fashion design and apparel production at Marvel College, completing her practicum with Leona Edmiston in Sydney, Australia. She has developed her passion for clothing and dance into a company called 3 Pears Inc. which she co-owns with her mom Debbie. Focusing mostly on costuming and practice wear, Shereen’s work also includes alterations, custom bridal, graduation, and other unique pieces.
Alexis Marie Chute
Michael J. Soloway
Assistant Writer
Michael has been a journalist for 23 years. His work has appeared in literary magazines, including Brevity, Hippocampus, and Split Lip. Michael has an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University, studied Stage and Screen at Lesley, and playwriting at Nebraska. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA, where his play, “I Love You, Lynn Swann,” was produced by the Pittsburgh New Works Festival in 2013. Michael recently won the Sundress Press “Best of the Net” prize.
Alexis Marie Chute
Ellie Elizabeth Yawney
Marketing & Promotion, Fundraising
Ellie was born and raised in Vernon, BC, and has been a loyal resident since 1987. She’s a firm believer in hard work and being kind to others. Ellie started working in the restaurant business at the age of 12, doing dishes and busing tables. She learned a lot about people; that they just want to be heard. She now manages that fine dining restaurant. Ellie believes in making a difference and helping others.
Alexis Marie Chute
Rene Huot
Camera Operator, Trailer Editor
Rene has been in the video production industry for over 20 years. He has worked on every kind of project imaginable, from shows on NBC to Muay Thai International events. Traveling the world for destination shoots as well as a hundreds of local shoots in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada has given Rene the ability to create amazing productions with his eye for detail and editing skills.
Alexis Marie Chute
Thank You to our Sponsors!
Special Credits
IN MEMORY:
Zachary Chute
Loren Huot
Brooklynn Huot
Ernie Walker
Perry Walker
Emree Jane Forget
Jax and Baby Selinger
Eli Jackson Brooks
“In memory of all the precious babies and families I have supported in loss and through their rainbows.” – Lori Ives-Baine
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