amari

In the early hours of the morning a janitor rediscovers his passion for piano at a Parisian college.

Coming 2023

Director’s statement:

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” These words found themselves printed in Comic Sans on the back of the first attempt I ever made at putting paint to paper, aged two. I highly doubt my crèche supervisor at the time was conscious of the decision or of the fact that twenty one years later, those same words would still be lingering in the mind of that same boy. But they linger for good reason, they’re true.
 
“amari” is a love letter to the inner child of every aged soul still dreaming. Having been brought up in a family that cherished creativity and having had the opportunites I have taken I am privileged in that I am able to follow my dream. Most people, however, do not get presented with such opportunities. Most people are not fortunate enough to be able to pursue their own dreams. “amari” is about a man who had dreams of becoming a pianist when he was younger. The harsh realities of his life have long since suppressed his dreams, but these are dreams that he reignites everytime he steals a moment with the piano he plays secretly at the college where he works as a janitor. The universality of this theme interests me because while not everyone gets to pursue their dreams and do what they love, I believe a life spent with dreams is better than a life spent without.

To tell this story with the delicacy I desire, I will be crafting the imagery with my personal touch. My work in music videos has let me analyse the human figure closely and I will be highlighting the character with abstract close-ups, portraying the honesty of human flaws. The use of handheld shots following our protagonist will elude to an almost documentarian approach, giving us the impression that we’re watching a real man on a real morning. Inspired by the resurgence of the use of aspect ratios used in the French new wave I too would be looking to use 1:66.1 as it will enchance the European nature of the film. Colourwise, we will begin with cooler tones of tinted green, shifting to warmer colours when the story moves into the wealthier area of central Paris.

If you ask a child what they dream of being when they grow older, they answer with passion and ambition. If you ask an adult, they look at you like you’re mad. I don’t know where I would be without dreaming, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

Cast & Crew:

Samuel Jay Patrick
Dammoh Konan
Mia Purcell
Sofia Serdar
Paxie Ha
Sahil Sharma
Oran Fitzpatrick
Toto Trenet
Hanzhang Qiu
Loretto Sloan
Sagnik Patra
Charlie Egraz

Running time: 9 minutes