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‘Charliebird' First Look: A Children's Hospital Music Therapist Struggles to Find Hope Through Song in Tribeca Premiere
There is a certain ballad that carries over when dealing with a shared trauma: It's a resonance that only those who are attuned to woe can understand. In the highly-anticipated film 'Charliebird,' that song is amplified to a volume that no doubt will be heard by audiences everywhere.
'Charliebird' stars Samantha Smart (who also wrote the script) as a music therapist at a children's hospital. During her shift, she is assigned to work with one patient whose story triggers her own past. The film will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in the narrative competition section. This Libby Ewing's directorial feature debut.
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The official synopsis reads: 'Working as a music therapist at a children's hospital in Texas, Alyse aka Al (Smart) is deeply devoted to her patients and has a rebellious spirit. She's masking her struggle to face a violent, past trauma. Her world is challenged when Charlie, a resistant 17-year-old patient, is assigned to her. Unlike her other kids, Charlie has no interest in working with Al. She doesn't trust her at first, but there is something about Charlie that reminds Al of her past and she is drawn to her, determined to break through. Their sisterly bond grows with an unexpected force. As professional lines blur, Al moves through her past, as Charlie confronts her unknown future.' Gabriela Ochoa Perez, Jeffrey Grover, Gabe Fazio, and Maria Peyramaure co-star.
'Charliebird' is produced by Ewing, Smart, and Elliot Gipson. The film was developed in Ewing's female writers collective, which she started in 2020. 'Once the characters became clear to me, they kind of steered the script- as woo as that sounds. In that way, I don't feel like I wrote it: I feel like I listened and typed,' Smart said.
After then after director Ewing's own father suddenly passed away in 2023, she knew that it would be cathartic and healing for them both to bring the story of 'Charliebird' to the screen.
'It was a life altering experience,' Ewing told IndieWire of making the film. 'Sam and I had been working on 'Charliebird' for a while at that point and the only thing that made sense to me [after losing my dad] was to make this film. Funding was a long, oftentimes discouraging journey and ultimately we were able to fund our film because of individuals who were touched by this story. Our beloved community, including League City, San Leon, Dickinson High School, and The Houston Film Commission, were tremendous resources for us. We kept production as small as we could without losing the integrity of the story. If there were financial limitations, that's where the creative problem solving pushed me and the team into making bold and meaningful, story driven choices. Sam and I were relentless in our mission and I'm convinced making a movie is a miracle.'
Ewing added that it was 'serendipitous' to be at Tribeca 2025, especially during a year where the festival program has a strong music theme with debuts of Billy Joel's 'And So It Goes' documentary and Miley Cyrus' own directorial debut, 'Something Beautiful.' 'We all know that music is transcendent and transformative; it has the power to heal,' Ewing said. 'My hope is that 'Charliebird' highlights how vital the work of music therapists and creative arts therapists are as part of the healing journey. These individuals are dedicating themselves to not only providing an outlet for patients, but in many cases, assisting patients and their families during the process of end-of-life care. These programs are often the first to lose funding and I hope to rally our audiences' support around the value this provides for our failing healthcare system.'
Ewing and Smart are set to reunite on another music-centric film, titled 'September.' The feature is a love story set in Paris.
'Charliebird' premieres at Tribeca as a sales title from Circus Road Films. Check out the first look clip below.
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