TRAILER
ABOUT
Set against the rugged beauty of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters region, IF I TELL YOU is a tender, suspenseful family drama anchored by a quietly powerful Carol Kane and a beautifully observed lead performance from young Etienne Kellici.
Based on the novel Closed Doors by Lisa O'Donnell, the film follows a 12-year-old boy trying to solve a mystery he is too young to fully understand.
CAST
FILMMAKERS
WRITER/
DIRECTOR
Tessa Blake is an alumna of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women. Her films have premiered at Cannes and SXSW, won awards at Nantucket Film Festival and Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and been honored by the Academy.
As a writer, Tessa has written for ABC, NBC, FOX and Warner Brothers. Currently, she’s developing an international series slated to shoot in Spring 2025 in Germany.
She has directed plays for Naked Angels Theater Company and The Atlantic Theater Company, is a proud alumna of the 24 Hour Plays, and a founding advisor for The Moth.
WRITER/
PRODUCER
Jennifer Manocherian has been a Broadway and off-Broadway theatre producer since the mid 1980’s with over thirty five credits, including several that won Tony and Drama Desk Awards.
Manocherian wrote and produced the film Family Blues (Amazon Prime Video) and wrote the book for two musicals streaming online: Marry Harry and Cockroaches & Cologne. She is also a novelist, having written Alpha Bette in 2023 and And No One Knew, to be released in spring 2026. In addition, she co-created a dance musical, In Your Arms, that played at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. She is a proud board member of New York Stage & Film.
Erin Mae Miller is a Nashville based film and TV producer and founder of Ignite Studios, which focuses on developing original content - both scripted and documentary film and television - that challenges cultural narratives in a way that promotes conversation and community.
A former executive with Big Indie Pictures and Third Coast Content, IF I TELL YOU is Ignite Studios' debut feature.
PRODUCER
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NOTABLE PRESS
PRAISE FOR
IF I TELL YOU
(fka BOUNDARY WATERS)
“[If I Tell You] immerses in its young characters, evoking Boyhood, George Washington, The 400 Blows. The film is in turns suspenseful, tender, and rapturous.”
– Jonathan Lethem, Novelist
“Dazzling new novel … Effectively evokes the carefree joys of adolescence as well as all of its terrors, real and imagined.”
— Andrew Ervin, New York Times
“An extraordinary debut feature from an exquisite filmmaker.”
— Virginia Heffernan, Critic
“Beautifully conceived and highly emotional, Tessa Blake observes the complexities of suburban trauma with sensitivity and grace. ”
— Jason Reitman, Filmmaker
"Unexpected, emotional journey."
— Sara Gore, NBC New York Live
SCREENINGS
coming soon...
