Filmmaker Statement

"The cinema can be an experience as diverse as life itself. It can compel us, grasp us with light and shadow to shake us in our seats. It can come safely and slowly, seeping into your soul like a dandelion pushing its way through a crack in concrete. I love the theater, the movies, the pictures in all its forms. What I have invited you here to watch tonight is not riveting or compelling, it is slow and melodic. It does not jump out of the screen and into your lap like an impatient lover. I hope you find this film like a dream of an old friend. I hope this film invites you to see the screen as a doorway that you are welcome to step through. Rest your eyes and ears, and enjoy the show." -director's opening remarks at their thesis film showcase. In the summer of 2021, I met with my friend Graham Skinner and talked about the book I was reading: Transcendental Style in Film, written by Paul Schrader. We were captivated by his analysis and knew it would be entirely new to both of us. We were eager to try our hand at it. I wrote the script and quickly attached some trusted collaborators, we shot the film over two nights at an Airbnb in Big Bear, CA, and I spent the next year and a half teaching myself to edit so I could do our work justice. I have done my very best to not waste a single second, a single 1/24th of a second of your time.