April Lane’s “Nightbloomer” invites viewers to rethink reality

On a plushy faded rainbow blanket in her Asheville apartment, filmmaker April Lane describes art as something alive. 

“Art is the truest form of expression,” she said. “Everywhere we go, there’s potential for new beauty to arise.”

That idea is the heartbeat behind her upcoming film “Nightbloomer”, a metaphysical feature about transformation, freedom and self-creation. Lane spent her summer directing a promotional trailer for the project, a self-funded experiment in what she calls “the magic of filming.”

From Soviet roots to Southern mountains

Born in Chicago to a Ukrainian-Russian family, Lane grew up surrounded by stories of survival and migration. Her grandparents fled the Soviet Union and that history of oppression and renewal left a mark on her.

“I was around people who had risen out of something tyrannical,” she said. “That belief in starting anew — of making a life where freedom is possible — really influenced me as a kid.”

That early exposure to resilience shaped her view of art as a form of liberation. After studying psychology in college, she began asking bigger questions about reality, emotion and creation. 

“I was asking questions and getting answers from within me,” she said. “I wanted to understand how our emotions shape the world around us.”

Those inner questions became the seed for Nightbloomer.

Action v  From psychology to film

Lane’s creative spark began to bloom when she took an acting class rooted in the Meisner technique. A classmate compared one of her story concepts to The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri — an observation that gave structure to what would become her film’s spiritual architecture.

“The comparison stuck,” she said. “It was like realizing my story was already part of something ancient.”

Influenced by European directors like Andrei Tarkovsky and Chantal Akerman, Lane said she fell in love with the kind of filmmaking that honors “the art of patience.” Unlike Hollywood’s high-speed pacing, she prefers films that invite audiences to slow down and feel deeply. “At its best,” she said, “film reveals what’s already alive in us.”

Creating reality through story

At the center of Nightbloomer is Maya, a quiet, introspective character who senses everything around her. “She’s shy, she feels everything poetically,” Lane said. “I wanted to honor people like that — people who process the world deeply.”

Maya’s journey blurs the line between fate and destiny. Lane explained the distinction like a philosopher. “Fate is like karma or pattern – it’s external,” she said. “Destiny is our highest timeline, the one we consciously create.”

That concept drives Nightbloomer’s metaphysical thread. “We’re not just responding to reality,” Lane said. “We’re creating it.”

A summer of faith and improvisation

The Nightbloomer promo was filmed this summer across western North Carolina with cinematographer Andy Cunningham, a collaboration Lane describes as “divinely timed.”

She invested about $5,000 of her own money to bring the vision to life, knowing that she’d need something tangible to attract future investors and crowdfunding support. 

“The challenges of indie filmmaking are advanced these days,” Lane said. “I knew I needed to show my vision first.”

Production wasn’t without chaos. Tight schedules, shifting weather and minimal resources forced Lane and Cunningham to improvise constantly — but that spontaneity, she said, became the lesson.

“It was my initiation into the magic of filming,” she said. “When you love your vision and the people around you, that faith becomes the art.”

Lane also prefers working with non-actors. “I look for people who already embody the spirit of the character,” she said. “They bring something real. The camera can tell when it’s honest.”

Sound as a higher dimension

Music, Lane believes, is just as vital as imagery. She draws inspiration from artists like Beach House and Kid Cudi, and hopes to collaborate with Brooklyn-based artist Anéko, whose operatic vocals she calls “the voice of the soul.”

“I want sound that feels higher-dimensional,” she said. “Something angelic, something that carries you through the story.”

A new kind of cinema

Lane’s mission goes beyond one film. She wants to challenge the formulaic storytelling of mainstream media. “Hollywood teaches characters to just react,” she said. “But what about creation? What about stories where people shape their own reality?”

That question resonates deeply with this generation — especially college students who are redefining purpose, identity and creativity.

“People are craving something true,” she said. “We’re all trying to remember that we can create from within, not just consume from without.”

Paradise as practice

Lane’s forearm bears the tattoo Paradiso — a nod to the final realm in Dante’s Divine Comedy and to her film’s central message. She estimates that most of Nightbloomer takes place in that “paradise dimension,” a world she envisions as both internal and attainable.

“I’m making this to remind people that heaven can exist here,” she said.

What’s next

Lane and Cunningham are currently editing the promo and plan to begin crowdfunding in spring 2026. The goal: raise more than $100,000 to bring Nightbloomer to life as a full-length feature.

For now, she’s focused on sharing the process with the Asheville creative community — and, she hopes, inspiring other UNCA students to take their art seriously.

“Film saved my life,” she said. “And if I can help others realize that storytelling is sacred, then all of this is worth it.”

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Follow the project:

Instagram: @nightbloomerfilm

Crowdfunding begins Spring 2026

Directed by April Lane / Cinematography by Andi Cunningham