- Feb 3, 2024
- LitBits
- 0
New blog post by Sarit
Why Mother, Why Father
Last year I made a short film. As a screenwriter with a drawer full of unproduced scripts I was eager to write something I can produce myself, experience the whole process from paper to film.
I’m sharing this short with you because like self-publishing, this process for me was so liberating. I was the captain of my ship in complete control of the artistic process with no interference–and finally, not waiting for permission to create.
Film Synopsis:
Summer. A brother and a sister spend a day at the beach wondering why their mother smokes? Autumn. They search a nearby forest for a lost notebook. The brother blames his sister for being as forgetful as their father. When they get separated, the sister enters ‘the forbidden woods’. Will she find what she’s looking for?
The film explores a tender brother and sister relationship as they grapple with their parents’ divorce. Though we never see the parents or their conflict.
The film was shot in the south of France, where I’m based, in never before captured on film locations, using only natural lighting, no set production design and non-professional child actors for a realistic look. The film is made of two distinct sequences in look and tone to convey “Mother” and “Father” as the children perceive them in their own world. The film is intentionally ‘broken in two’ to convey the fractured lives of the children facing divorce, but in a non-depressing way, as children are so resilient and mature beyond their years.
I used this film as a proof-of-concept for the indie feature I wrote by the same name. It came close to being picked up at Plan B (Brad Pitt’s production company)… It’s still my hope to find the right producer/investor to make the film, but I also believe in letting things go and when you do, they come back to you in most unusual ways.
No project or story is ever dead or lost. It’s just sleeping, for now.
---
Why Mother, Why Father
Last year I made a short film. As a screenwriter with a drawer full of unproduced scripts I was eager to write something I can produce myself, experience the whole process from paper to film.
I’m sharing this short with you because like self-publishing, this process for me was so liberating. I was the captain of my ship in complete control of the artistic process with no interference–and finally, not waiting for permission to create.
Film Synopsis:
Summer. A brother and a sister spend a day at the beach wondering why their mother smokes? Autumn. They search a nearby forest for a lost notebook. The brother blames his sister for being as forgetful as their father. When they get separated, the sister enters ‘the forbidden woods’. Will she find what she’s looking for?
The film explores a tender brother and sister relationship as they grapple with their parents’ divorce. Though we never see the parents or their conflict.
The film was shot in the south of France, where I’m based, in never before captured on film locations, using only natural lighting, no set production design and non-professional child actors for a realistic look. The film is made of two distinct sequences in look and tone to convey “Mother” and “Father” as the children perceive them in their own world. The film is intentionally ‘broken in two’ to convey the fractured lives of the children facing divorce, but in a non-depressing way, as children are so resilient and mature beyond their years.
I used this film as a proof-of-concept for the indie feature I wrote by the same name. It came close to being picked up at Plan B (Brad Pitt’s production company)… It’s still my hope to find the right producer/investor to make the film, but I also believe in letting things go and when you do, they come back to you in most unusual ways.
No project or story is ever dead or lost. It’s just sleeping, for now.
---
Last edited by a moderator:
p.
What were those structures? I loved how the sister stood on down by the shore. She's got such style.
