The Last Breath of Spring is a slow burn drama about an 80-year-old man’s inner turmoil after finding suggestions of his wife’s infidelity on the day of her funeral.

Interview with Writer/Director Gillian Henry

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Right before my senior year at NYU, during the summer of 2018, I studied 35mm filmmaking at FAMU. While exploring the streets of Prague, I wandered into an antique store, where I sorted through communist memorabilia and antiquated paintings to find a Flexaret medium format film camera.

When I popped the back of the camera open, I found an exposed roll of film.

After I dropped the roll off to be processed, I was filled with joyful curiosity. This 1960s film had survived a time of war, hatred, and fear. What could be inside? Who owned it? Are they alive?

As I was waiting for the photos to be developed, I began to dream of circumstances when an individual is tormented, like I was, by this vessel of secrets from a mysterious, negative past.

Eventually, I settled on the idea of having an elder man looking into the past to redefine his relationship with his late wife.

At its core, The Last Breath of Spring is not a story of infidelity; it is an exploration of the corruption of innocence, even in old age.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

I think you should watch this film because it functions as a character portrait of a mundane, elderly person’s daily life, which isn’t common in mainstream American cinema. In the age of representation in Hollywood, we are acknowledging that women, people of color, and disabled people have been excluded from the screen time they deserve. However, we are missing a large portion of the population still: the elderly community. When we do see them on-screen, they are usually presented as a caricature of bitterness or lifelessness; I wanted to create a character that breaks this mold.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

As a young filmmaker, I am still in the process of identifying the themes and voices that I want to explore in my work, but I can say that corruption of innocence and coming-of-age seem to be motifs that I gravitate toward when writing.

At the time that I was beginning to write this, I was feeling a sense of betrayal. I was realizing that the world isn’t as wonderful and utopian as it seemed when I was a kid. From that confrontation, I was able to create a character who, like myself and so many others, is betrayed by his memory of the past.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

Translating the script to the film resulted in one large change. I decided to cut a confrontation scene between David and John. When I wrote it, the scene seemed necessary and logical; however, when I was editing, I felt that the story was abiding by a structure that I didn’t believe it needed. When I cut that scene, I think I preserved a sense of mystery, and certainly a lack of catharsis, which was really important to me.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

(I haven’t received that much feedback)

Most of the feedback that I have received, fortunately, is extremely positive. I think people appreciate how ambiguous and meditative the film is.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Nothing has really shocked me. I think the most enjoyable question to ask the audience is what they think will be on the roll of film. Some of those answers are very creative and interesting because they really show how the audience members perceive John, Margaret, and David. There is definitely a lot of personal projection there, which is what I wanted… so I’m thrilled with that engagement!

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

I am so grateful to have gone to film school for numerous reasons, but one of the central reasons is for the exposure it gave me to so many films and filmmakers. I have always been a huge cinephile, but there are many films that are impossible to seek out unless someone shows them to you. I think We Are Moving Stories gives people the opportunity to see other voices and storytelling structures that aren’t available in mainstream markets. There is cinema for every type of person, so with this community of films, I think the general public will be introduced to their voice in cinema.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

I think the next step for The Last Breath of Spring is to be distributed, to make it available to the masses.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I hope this film adds another layer to the perception of the elder community in cinema.

Behind the scenes of The Last Breath of Spring

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

This piece dives into conversations of innocence, loyalty, betrayal, and love. A question worth contemplating would be, does living in a state of innocence automatically mean that you are not living in a state of truth?

Would you like to add anything else?

Just a thank you to you guys!

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I am currently developing the script for my next narrative short, which I am hoping to produce next spring. I will be tackling the topics of abortion and teen pregnancy.

Linhan Zhang (producer) is currently campaigning for an Academy Award in short film with another piece he produced called Pearl (2018, dir. Robbin Feng).

Interview: October 2019

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

The Last Breath of Spring

The Last Breath of Spring is a slow burn drama about an 80-year-old man’s inner turmoil after finding suggestions of his wife’s infidelity on the day of her funeral.

Length: 12:54

Director: Gillian Henry

Producer: Linhan Zhang

Writer: Gillian Henry

About the writer, director and producer:

GILLIAN HENRY is a southern California native writer/director who just finished her senior year at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. Two summers ago, Gillian worked on the set of Walt Disney Studios’ The Lion King (dir. Jon Favreau, 2019). This past summer, after studying abroad in the Czech Republic at FAMU for 35mm filmmaking, Gillian worked at Marvel Studios on the pre-production team of an upcoming Marvel feature (2020). Throughout the year, she has directed commercials and photoshoots for feminist jewelry brand Shiffon Co.

LINHAN ZHANG was born and raised in Beijing, China. He studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Linhan is the co-founder of Bering Pictures, a New York based film development/finance company. His projects have been official selections for more than 50 Academy Award qualifying film festivals, including Sundance, Edinburgh, Palm Springs and Short Shorts. His films have been distributed online at HBO, New York Times Op-Docs, Atlantic Selects and more. Linhan was a 2017 Sundance Ignite Fellow, supported by the Sundance Institute.

Key cast: "John"- James Joseph McGonigle, "David"- Jordan Rhodes

Looking for: distributors, film festival directors

Instagram: @gill.hen

Other: IMDb