Filmmaker Statement

For "Eli, Briefly" I was interested in exploring how time fractures and the subconscious would penetrate someone’s state of denial. With that in mind, I wanted to create an unreliable narrator, a character that is grappling with their own truth. Eli is someone who doesn’t want to face this new version of themselves, and who would do anything for validation, a battle with The Ego. They black out as a way to avoid dealing with this new desperate version of themselves. However, their behavior begins to push away the people they care about the most. "Eli, Briefly" is a story about mourning yourself and being forced to see the parts of yourself you’ve been hiding from. The film follows Eli as they experience the 5 stages of grief as they come to terms with their actions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These are not linear, but we are with Eli as they remember the night before and recognize how they’ve boiled over. They end in the wings of their theater, about to g