Abandon ME is being funded through several sources:
Reframing Media, Arts and Foundation Grants and Private Donations.

If you would like to contribute to bringing our vision to the screen, our fiscal sponsor
IFP Minnesota, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, allows you to make a fully tax-deductible gift online to Abandon ME, by simply clicking "Donate" below

Or, if you would like to donate by mail, please send a check written out to
IFP Minnesota, with Abandon ME on the memo line addressed to:

IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts
"Abandon ME"
2446 University Ave.
St. Paul, MN. 55114

Thank You for your generous support!

"Abandon ME"

We did everything in the corn.  We created other realities there, we found freedom and
hiding places, met wild animals, buried family pets, rode horse bareback there, and escaped
from trouble.  I tried many times to runaway through the corn during my childhood, only
to find miles and miles more of it.   

Abandon ME  - Story Description     
“Abandon ME” is a provocative 12 minute, 35mm color film about a daughter’s desperate
attempt to abandon her aging mother in a cornfield.  It is also a fictionalized account of abuse
I experienced in early childhood.  Because of my mother’s history in this rural setting, I’ve always deeply internalized the 1940’s era, when my mother was a young adult.  Thus, the film is set in the late 1940’s.

The story begins with 38-year-old Edie pushing her mother in a wheelchair through a row
of corn,after she has toughed through decades of her mother’s physical and mental illnesses. Today, she has reached the brink of her own tolerance for caretaking, convinced she must save herself from further emotional injury and betrayal at the expense of her mother’s life.  “Abandon ME” is about a middle-aged woman finding empathy for herself in her darkest and most despairing moments.  Through grace and surrender, Edie manifests a way to embrace her own fractured humanity to find freedom and acceptance.

Abandon ME – Why this story?
I came to write “Abandon ME” as a way of coping with the cumulative effects of my mother’s untreated mental illness.  Neither as a child nor as an adult is there ever the opportunity to change one’s parent.  For me there has only been transcendence, especially when scars seem to last forever.  “Abandon ME” explores those emotional scars in this case left by my mother, which she continues unknowingly, to carve into my psyche even today.  But, as this film is in defense of my right to express my struggle, it is also a dedication of intense appreciation for what I have learned about myself through knowing her, and the complexities of life.  She has made me a fearless daughter, and I owe her that strength.

Marisa Collins, Producer
Producer Marisa Collins began her career in Minneapolis, working with the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival and the Sound Unseen Film & Music Festival, as well as on the feature films, Factotum (2005), and The Horrible Flowers (2006).

In 2006, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she most recently completed work as Assistant Director and U.S. Production Coordinator on the feature-length documentary, From River to Sea (2009), shot on location in Eastern Europe and Russia.  She has worked on numerous television commercials, and currently holds the position of Associate Producer for the LA-based independent production company, Secret Garden Films.

Stacia Rice, "EDIE"
A young veteran of Minneapolis’ vibrant theatre scene, Stacia Rice has held lead roles in a wide range of productions.  She played the title role in the Guthrie Theatre’s production of Jane Eyre, “Portia” in The Merchant of Venice for Minneapolis’ Ten Thousand Things Theatre, and “Maggie” in the Torch Theatre’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  Her film work includes the independent features Fall Into Me and A Descent of Woodpeckers, along with local and national television ads for Best Buy, Tresseme, Valvoline and Old Navy.  She can currently be seen in These Shining Lives at the Minnesota History Museum, and in the Guthrie’s production of After A Hundred Years.  One of the state’s most promising talents, Stacia was awarded the 2005 Ameriprise Financial Ivey Award for Outstanding Performance for her role as “Blanche” in A Streetcar Named Desire with the Equity Showcase, and was honored in Minnesota Monthly Magazine as “One to Watch.”  Through her intense work ethic and natural gifts, Stacia has established herself as one of Minneapolis stars, and continues to rise.