Saudade (2014)
A co-dependent lover breaks free from her binds.
Saudade (pronounced “saudaǧi”, as it’s a Portuguese word) was the first time I directed a script I didn’t write. This was the brainchild of frequent collaborator, model and makeup artist extraordinaire, Krystal Umi.
As it wasn’t my creation, I can mostly talk about the actual production. We decided to make this a bit of a more abstract looking piece. The story would be told by means of more symbolic imagery combined with a narration style that was intended to come off as a bit more poetic and ethereal. As we were a bit on the clock for a submission deadline, the entire short was shot in one day inside a studio set we prepared. This, unfortunately, included the narration, which had to be recorded the actual day we filmed, instead of voiced over at a later date, which would have been ideal. For this reason, it’s less than perfect, but you live and you learn, right?
Thankfully it was still good enough that it was accepted into the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest that year, along with Ignacio, giving us our second double selection at the festival!
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