d r i f t - Graduate Short Film

Aim

A misfit mime, struggling to fit in with the world around him, helps a young girl as the shape of her own world changes forever.

Exploring the themes of grief and depression, d r i f t is about two unknowingly connected characters discovering how to let go and move on.

The Plot

A young Girl, whilst walking through the City crying, spots a balloon seller over her Mother’s shoulder as she consoles her. The Balloon Seller begins his bumpy journey as he tries to sell his balloons. Going through the humiliation of having his balloons stolen, being laughed at and ignored, he finds himself begging on the streets for money. Having gained enough change to buy more balloons to sell, he returns to his usual spot where he is made to feel invisible and alone. As the Balloon Seller loses all optimism and begins to crumble, the young Girl approaches with the desire to buy a balloon. With out hesitation, the two instantly connect and understand one another as she explains to the Balloon Seller about the letter she wishes to send to her Father who’s in a better place. Mesmerised by the balloon carrying the letter off, the Balloon Seller develops an idea. Balloons slowly float into the sky and halt as the Balloon Seller straps himself to a huge cloud of them. With a brave face, he raises his arms and runs towards the low wall on the top floor of a parking lot. The young Girl, whilst walking through the City with her Mother, looks up to the sky and smiles as a rainbow of colours spread across her face.

The Aim

As a film that is adapted from personal life experience into this abstract and surreal drama, we are keen to share this short but powerfully relatable story. The money raised will help go towards paying for professional actors, costumes and the large cloud of balloons that will overshadow the Balloon Seller. In addition to this, any extra money raised will help fund entering this film into film festivals. 

The Director - Wesley Burgess

Starting out with a GoPro whilst skiing, Wesley has gone from filming his holidays to recording local events, freelancing as a promotional videographer and now making short films for passion. In his final year at Norwich University of the Arts, he is looking forward to producing his first writer/director short film that shows an abstract take on his own personal life experience and struggles. 

"The character of the Balloon Seller came from a devising workshop where we explored an unusual character in an unlikely location. A Balloon Seller causing chaos on the underground proved to make a funny short sketch, but I felt that this character had more to offer and more to explore. I decided to take this character and the mimed element of the performance and plant it into the every day life of the city of Norwich." - Wesley Burgess

This project successfully funded on 15th February 2020