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Lacuna
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TYPE: Narrative Short
GENRE: Drama
STATUS: Pre-Production
LOGLINE
After her teenage son’s suicide, a middle aged woman moves to a rural town where she becomes entwined with a boy her son’s age.
SYNOPSIS
In the wake of her teenage son’s suicide a middle aged woman moves to a rural town where she becomes entwined with a boy her son’s age.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
My name is Sophie Seyd. I'm a British-Australian writer and director of Iraqi descent, and current candidate of NYU Tisch’s Graduate Film Programme, where I’m a BAFTA scholar and recipient of grants from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the American Australian Association, and Screen Australia, amongst others. I was raised in Melbourne, studied literature and philosophy at an undergraduate level and first started working in documentary. I then moved to London where I pivoted to drama television before relocating to New York. Lacuna explores unlikely relationships, the intersection of grief, desire, and love, and the tension between our human needs and the social expectations governing us. It’s about the lives we run from, and their way of catching up with us, wherever we may be. We’re drawing inspiration from Catherine Breillat’s sensitivity to gesture, Mia Hansen-Love’s compassion for her characters, Claire Denis' refined, poetic sensibility and Joanna Hogg's incisive honesty. This production brings together talent from the US, the UK, France, and Australia. We are in talks with Essie Davis for the lead, having written it with her in mind. It’s being shot by award-winning cinematographer Mélanie Akoka whose work has screened at Cannes, San Sebastián, Sundance, TIFF and SXSW. We’re determined to shoot 16mm for the rigour and precision it demands of the creative process, and its tactile look - reflecting the nature of our story. I was born in Hong Kong to parents of differing heritages. Though I loved growing up in Australia, I had a complicated relationship to notions of identity and belonging. Living in Europe and America for the past six years – and now being in film school where interrogating who you are is a prerequisite for honing your artistic voice – I’ve come to a renewed sense of appreciation for the landscape and culture that shaped me. Set against the raw backdrop of the Victorian bush, Lacuna depicts a freedom of expression, a following of instinct and a certain shamelessness that I think of as deeply Australian.
KEY CREW
Sophie Seyd - Writer/Director
Sophie Seyd is a British-Australian writer and director of Iraqi descent, and current candidate of NYU Tisch’s Graduate Film Programme, where she’s a BAFTA scholar and recipient of generous grants from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the American Australian Association, and Screen Australia, amongst others. She was raised in Melbourne, studied literature and philosophy at an undergraduate level and first started working in documentary. She then moved to London where she pivoted to high-end drama television series for Sister Pictures, Amazon Prime and Apple TV before relocating to New York for her MFA.
Claudia Nankervis - Producer
Claudia Nankervis is a Melbourne based producer and co-founder of SUZY, a female led production company creating original work focused on young, modern life in Australia. Claudia has extensive experience in live theatre and television as Associate Producer for TV Events at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and is the Programmer for Stella Prize, a literary award for women and non-binary writers. Claudia also runs Backyard Stories, a successful storytelling event and podcast with regular nights at Melbourne’s Brunswick Ballroom, which has toured internationally to New York City, Amsterdam, and London.
Lily Platt - Producer
Lily Platt is writer, director and producer based in New York City. After starting her career in architecture and design curation at SFMOMA and the Eames Institute, Lily worked as a staff producer at Story Syndicate where she made docuseries for HBO and NETFLIX. She is currently pursuing an MFA in film at NYU Tisch.
Mélanie Akoka - Cinematographer
Mélanie Akoka is a French writer, director and cinematographer of North-African descent, currently based in New Orleans. She studied philosophy at the Sorbonne before working at a post-production and film lab where she developed her passion for film. She recently graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her latest film, Yearlings, premiered at San Sebastian Film Festival. Since she joined NYU, she served as cinematographer on many short films which played at festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, TIFF and SXSW. She recently won the Nestor Almendros award for best female cinematography and is the recipient of the 2021 Arri Volker Bahnemann award for outstanding cinematography. Melanie recently completed photography on her first feature, Basileia, for award-winning director Isabella Torre, premiering at Venice Days 2024.
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