Target reached!
All extra funds will go towards entering the film in festivals, hopefully to win an ...
I Lost My Dad
Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Aim
I Lost My Dad is a character-driven film made by Falmouth University students, following a girl's relationship with her dad's ashes.
LOGLINE
After her deadbeat dad's death, Abigail begins to talk to his ashes, developing a relationship with them as she navigates her grief.
SYNOPSIS
Abigail never had a good relationship with her dad. He drank beer, ate takeaways and slept on the sofa whilst she visited. Yet, after his death, despite her best efforts to insist that it made no difference to her, she begins to feel the urge to tell him things she never got to when he was alive. Slowly, after getting in the habit of confiding in his ashes, she begins carry the urn around with her, until one day, she loses it and has to accept the loss of her father.
A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
This film idea initially came to me as a dark comedy/ mystery genre film about losing a family member’s ashes, with the protagonist having to retrace their steps and uncover the mystery of the ashes’ disappearance. As I began to write, I was subconsciously being influenced by the character of Alissa in “The End of the F***ing World”, with her blank expression and blunt attitude. This led me in a different direction, instead choosing to focus on an unconventional relationship between a father and a daughter. I enjoy subtleties in film, which drew me to choose an uncommon representation of grief, showing that the death of her father was the driving force behind Abigail’s desire for a relationship with him. She slowly realises her lack of emotion towards him when he was alive was just a guard she had up to avoid getting hurt, and his death feels like a safe space to start forming a relationship with her father, although as we come to discover, this is a false sense of security. We see her acceptance of her grief at the end of the film, when she finally shows emotion around her loss of him.
WHO IS THIS AIMED AT?
This film is aimed at young adults, primarily women who have difficult relationships with their fathers as it sheds light on unusual father-daughter relationships in a neutral way, understanding the complexities in such a dynamic. The elements of comedy also make this film accessible to a wider audience, who can enjoy the film even if they don’t particularly resonate with the themes. The theme of grief also brings a wider audience to this film, as many people have dealt with loss, and the unconventional way in which Abigail deals with her loss could be seen as a sense of comfort for some, as it promotes the idea that grief looks different for every person, even on a subtler level, such as Jane’s initial grief for the loss of an ex-husband who she doesn’t love anymore.
MEET THE CREW
Madi Mazur (Writer, Director, Producer)
My name is Madi and I Lost My Dad is very much my baby. I am excited to direct, as it has been a passion of mine for a while, and I love bringing my creative vision to life. My favourite way to work is low-budget, small crew, and minimal equipment so the focus of filmmaking is very much on the creative choices we are making and the skill of the cast and crew involved. Hopefully, I Lost My Dad will reflect this!
Hugo Cuthbert (Director of Photography)
I'm Hugo, the cinematographer on this project. This will be the first time I've specialised as a DoP so I'm really excited as this will be a new challenge for me. I've always been interested in cinematography and feel it's one of the most creatively interesting aspects of film. I'm looking forward to working on this project as I feel it's a story everyone can somewhat connect to and because it allows for a lot of creative freedom when it comes to cinematography.
Cat Cusack (Production Designer)
I'm Cat, the production designer for I Lost My Dad - I help bring Madi's script to life through props, set and character design. I love working on stylised short films after working in theatre design - I enjoy the subtle approach to world building that you'll see in this realism piece.
Hannah "Stitches" Murphy (Costume Designer)
I'm Stitches, the costume designer for the film. Costumes interest me as they tell you a lot about who someone is. Costume also can signify many things like the character's relationship to other people. I am excited to work on such a character-driven narrative as it challenges me to create meaning through costume.
Zen Traynor (Sound Designer)
My name is Zen and I'm the sound designer on this project. Choosing this pathway has helped me hone into my ears and has pushed my imagination past the visual realm. I love the way sound can enhance the visuals to create an exciting new world. I enjoy working on fictional films as it allows me to experiment with the way I experience sound in the real world, creating mystifying emotions through strangely unique sounds.
Harry McEvoy (Editor)
I'm Harry, the editor for I Lost My Dad. I have a passion for video editing as it's a creative puzzle I can help solve, and each new project is a new puzzle to work on. I enjoy working across a variety of genres, and this film is something different which I'm looking forward to getting started on.
WHAT THE MONEY WILL GO TOWARDS
Primarily, we are raising money for our production design department, aiding Cat in creating a convincing environment in each setting to bring the characters and their spaces to life. This will include set dressing, props and the all-important urn! As well as this, some budget will go towards the costume department, assisting Stitches in creating a personable wardrobe for each principal character. Any other funding will go towards providing a hot meal for cast and crew to enable them to continue their hard work on long shoot days which in turn will allow us to hopefully enter the film in festivals, which will also require funding!
Thank you for sharing or donating! Everything makes a difference!
This project successfully funded on 21st March 2023