Filmmaker Statement

In “Nana,” the line between imagination and reality is blurred. I wanted the film to look and feel like a memory, a photograph you get to have a glimpse of, a person you know so well but also not at all. In a way, the audience gets to be a child listening to their grandma’s story, as we will never fully understand what happened in her past and what her life would've been if she made other choices. Instead, we get to imagine the person she was and stay with her throughout this journey with no hint of judgment. We used 1950s ads and paintings by Dianne Dengel and Norman Rockwell as cinematography references. “Nana’s” production design was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s “Italianamerican,” Nick Cassavetes’ “The Notebook,” and my grandmothers’ respective houses.