HollyShorts / Palm Springs ShortFest (Winner Audience Award - Best Student Short) 2019 – Tree #3
After being cast as a background tree in his annual middle school play, an ambitious and imaginative immigrant boy leads a revolution on stage that his intolerant drama teacher will never forget.
Interview with Writer/Director Omer Ben-Shachar
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Like Itai in the film, I was also cast many times as Tree #3. I wanted to make a film that would speak to other kids being cast in background roles, to the outsiders still trying to fit in, and to the dreamers who will do whatever it takes to prove that “a tree isn’t just a tree.”
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
We tend to forget that there is a child in us that deserves to fulfill his dream. Often, we’re the ones who stand in the way of our inner child. We lose hope based on the role that others cast for us and begin to believe that maybe we are just meant to be a tree in the back. That’s why I think you should watch this film. To remind you of that child in you that's still dreaming.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The stories I like to tell are always personal and autobiographical. I’ve found it fascinating how the more specific and personal you are in your story – the more universal it becomes. A lot of Tree #3 is directly based on my own life as a kid growing up in Texas. How I desperately wanted a lead role in the school play and felt heartbroken to be cast in a background role instead. At the same time, it’s really a story about a kid who wants to belong. And I believe that’s very universal. Everybody feels like an outsider.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
In the early stages of our thesis film development, each time my co-writer and I met to work, we continually changed stories, still uncertain of what we wanted to tell. However, in those meetings, I found myself repeatedly returning to my childhood in Texas, and the memory of how my accent prevented me from landing a speaking role in the school play. I remembered the devastation I felt each time I saw my name next to a background role and how, to make myself feel better, I would put on my own plays in my living room, always casting myself in the lead.
It wasn’t the hardship or even the comedy of the situation, that drew me to tell this story. It was the passion. I really wanted to tell a story about a passionate kid who would go to extremes to make himself the star of his own show. I wanted to be close again to that 12-year-old boy, not to remind myself of how it felt to be rejected and excluded, but of how it felt to not surrender. That young boy never gave up. He was such a believer, so committed to his art and so passionate about trying to excite an audience. I wanted to be inspired again by his energy, and in making this film, inspire others. I realized the story I needed to tell was my own.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We’ve been getting really great audience responses, from laughter to crying, which is the greatest feeling for a director. I’m very touched by how many people are moved by the film, and how each audience member connects to something else in it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I was very much surprised by just how many different people from different backgrounds have been able to connect with the film – from actors to immigrants, to very young kids and grandparents too. Everyone has always felt like a miscast at some point in their life. I hoped the film would speak to a broad audience, but I didn’t realize just how universal the film’s themes are.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to spread the word about Tree #3 and get more people to watch our movie! If the movie reaches just one kid somewhere in the world, who are now cast as “Lamp #2” or “Wind #6”, and encourages him to not give up on his dream and gives him a sense of belonging – then it’s worth it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All of the above!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope the viewers watching the film will be inspired by Itai’s journey, and just like Itai - learn how to not let others cast a role for them. During our development, our mentor, Michael, told me something that really spoke to me, and I think is still very relevant to the film’s message: Be yourself, and the audience will find you.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What can you do when life gives you a role that's too small for you?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m writing two comedy features, a TV show for children and developing several other projects.
Interview: August 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
Tree #3
After being cast as a background tree in his annual middle school play, an ambitious and imaginative immigrant boy leads a revolution on stage that his intolerant drama teacher will never forget.
Length: 19:52
Director: Omer Ben-Shachar
Producer: Iris Xuan Yang
Writer: Omer Ben-Shachar, Sydney Meadow
About the writer, director and producer:
A recent AFI Conservatory graduate, OMER BEN SHACHAR is an Israeli director based in Los Angeles. Omer enjoys telling honest, character-driven stories that find the comedy in our insecurities and fears of being outsiders, and that ultimately celebrate the joy of individuality. His latest film, Tree #3 (2019), won the Audience Award for Best Student Short at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and was nominated by the Television Academy Foundation for a College Emmy Television Award in Comedy. In addition to narrative filmmaking, Omer has directed music videos that consecutively won first and second prizes in Israel's Young Music Video Awards, Clip Tzair.
Key cast: Lior Malka (Itai), Kelly Ryan (Ms. Crystal), Rita Zohar (Nurit), Alex Gonzalez (Mateo), Eva Du (Feng)
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors
Facebook: Tree #3
Instagram: @treenumber3film
Website: www.treenumberthreefilm.com
Other: IMDb
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival/ Rhode Island - 7th August 2019, RISD Museum, 10:00am; HollyShorts Film Festival/Los Angeles - 13th August 2019, TCL Chinese Theatre, 5:00pm.