This film is about healing in old age. Alma is navigating her life after the passing of her wife, often convincing herself she is fully content, despite developing feelings for a shopkeeper, named Joan. Do we deprive ourselves of joy in our old age because we feel we are too old to start again? Can you overcome the immense feelings of guilt towards moving on after the passing of a partner? ‘Alma’ will be exploring these themes while commenting on a disconnect between generations through the character of her daughter, Sarah. Life can become too busy to care for our parents, whether that be because of commitments with work or your own children. This guilt plays heavy on many people’s minds and is something that I would also like to explore within this film.
Through our protagonist, Alma, who has identified as a lesbian for the majority of her life, we want to offer a queer story that elderly lesbians can see themselves in, as many LGBTQ+ films about the elderly seem to be male focussed. Elderly lesbians exist all around us, so why shouldn't they have a greater presence on our screens?
We want to give this film a warm and hopeful look as well as feel. It will be lively and colourful, timeless and filmic.
Taking visual inspiration from films such as Mrs. Harris goes to Paris (2022), Perfect Days (2023) & Moonstruck (1987), I want to create a visual aesthetic that shows Alma through a rose-tinted lens to enhance the positive and elderly feel to the film; almost as if you’re watching it through an elderly persons eyes but still presenting themes of desire, solitude and grief which appear throughout the narrative. I want to take an approach through the visuals that doesn’t just let the audience “see” Almas life unfold on the screen but feel it, like they may know an Alma in their own life and to do so i’ve been researching documentaries on the lgbtq+ community and elderly people Old Lesbians Film (2023) and Paris is Burning (1990) among others to make the cinematography more personal.
Here is a link to our Sizzle Reel, made by our editor: Link to the Sizzle Reel on YouTube
To demonstrate the look and feel we want to achieve for Alma, our crew made a teaser called The Letter. It is linked below:
Link to our teaser The Letter on vimeo
- Supporter Package - £5
You will receive a personalised thank you video message from a chosen member of the crew and exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and videos. - Early Access - £10
Since we will be putting our finished project into film festival, it will only be released after it has been shown at all the film festivals we submitted it to. This could take until mid 2026. With this Reward, you will be one of the first to get access to the film - expected to be delivered end of may 2025. - Social Media Shoutout - £15
You will receive a shoutout on the story of the Alma Instagram account. We can add a chosen personalised if requested. This tier also includes early access. - Special Thanks - £25
In the credits of our film, your chosen name will be listed under special thanks. This Reward also includes early access to our film. - Pack of Postcards - £35
Additionally to early access and special thanks in the credits, you will receive a high quality print of the Alma poster as a Postcard, signed by the director. - PDF Copy of the Script - £50
We will send you a digital PDF copy of the final draft of our film. Your name will also appear under special thanks in the credits and you will receive early access to our film. - Filmmaker Package - £80
This tier is for the fellow filmmakers, you will receive a package containing a set of high quality filter tag labels in the post to take your projects to the next level! Shipped beginning of February. - Signed Poster from Crew - £100
When the film is finished, we will send you an exclusive Alma poster, which will be signed by all members of our main crew. This Reward also includes early access and special thanks. - Film Premiere - £150
This Reward grants you an invite to our exclusive film premiere of Alma, before the film gets released. This includes an extra ticket for a +1 of your choice. This will most likely take place in the portsmouth area, this perk does not include cost of travel. At the film premiere, you will receive the signed poster. You will also get early access to our film and special thanks in the credits. - Executive Producer Credit - £500
Your name will appear as an Executive Producer of the film in the credits. You will also receive early access to the film and an invite to the film premiere. At the film premiere, you will receive the signed poster.
A word from our Producer Isabel: I am super excited to bring you all Alma's story as it is something we all believe is important to shed more light on. I am working hard to secure the most beautiful locations amongst other production aspects to really bring this story to life. If you enjoy LGBTQ+ stories and want to see this representation within elderly women because there is just not much then please do follow along our journey! Alma will be such a special film with the most talented group working on it and I will make sure we bring you a story you can just fall in love with! Hope you enjoy the film as much as we do making it.
Here’s what our writer, Emma, has to say:
As the writer of this film, I feel so lucky to be able to give this underrepresented group a voice while also commenting on real life issues that can affect us all.
My interest in films by Yasujiro Ozu as well as countless documentaries, books and real-life interviews with elderly lesbians will inform my decisions when writing this script which I hope will be heartwarming and entertaining and enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
Our Director, Lea: Being able to make this movie is incredibly important to me, as we are touching upon two themes, loneliness in older age and the LGBTQ+ community, that I feel a strong personal connection to. I’m incredibly proud of the crew we have assembled. Everyone is so talented and a joy to work with - I can’t wait to share what we create!
Jack, our Director of Photography: I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with such talented filmmakers and excited to be on board! As DP on the project I really want to open peoples eyes and convey the heartwarming mood that the narrative leans into. Representation on screen is vitally important and I feel inspired to to convey that across with Alma. There needs to be more representation of Elderly Lesbians on screen, so I look forward to breaking that barrier down further.
If you want to hear from the rest of our team - check out our instagram where we will be posting these crew photos and a little message from each member of our crew! @almashort.film on Instagram!
Here’s some previous short films members from our crew have worked on:
Autumn of Life follows a new friendship between Bert and George, two elderly care home residents. Bert, who is cold and standoffish must learn to accept company and friendship from George even though he is the polar opposite to him - happy and grateful to be alive.
Our Producer, Writer, Director of Photography and Editor all had major roles in the production of the movie.
“awake” is an experimental film poem by the director, gaffer and sound recordist of our project. This Film shows a restless girl, Violet, as she falls in and out of confusing and distressing dreams about her past, present and future.
Siren is a climate-conscious poetic film, made by our Post Sound Designer and Production Designer. It contains underwater footage obtained using their Underwater Filming qualifications and follows the story of a fisherman retelling an old memory that made him realise the devastation mankind is causing to the natural world.
As mentioned above by members from our crew, it is extremely important to us to shine a new and fresh light on a group of people rarely represented on screen.
We also want to touch upon aspects of sustainability in our film, by setting parts of the film in a sustainable food store and building environmentally friendly narratives into our story. This will also flow into the production of the movie. We intend to be as sustainable as we can. We’ve taken first steps, by attending the albert course for sustainability in short film production. Every member of our core crew now has an albert certification, which has taught us the proper ways of reducing our environmental impact. We aim to reduce our waste by asking all our crew and cast to bring reusable water bottles/coffee cups as well as avoiding food with non-recyclable packaging. We will also reduce our emissions by avoiding traveling by car whenever possible. We will be talking more about our plans for making our production more environmentally friendly in upcoming social media posts!
When the film is finished, we will be entering multiple film festivals, including the LGBTQ+ Iris Prize. We hope to be selected for many film festivals and for this film to reach the widest audience possible!
All photos used on this Crowdfunder page are taken by Joseph Batting, our Gaffer.