On her 18th birthday, Hanna found an old music box that has a photo of her and her father who abandoned his own family when she was a child. She then goes on a journey and tries to reconnect with him.

Interview with Director/Cinematographer/Producer/Writer: Hai-Tao Wu

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

A variety of reasons made me want to make this film. I was inspired by a story that I read online. A man found a sky lantern in his front yard, with the message - “Dad, I miss you”. He then posts on his blog and meant to send out to the person who wrote the message, “I don't know if you can see my blog, but as a father, I can tell you for sure he misses you, too”. Then I thought how a few relatives that I grew up with had a similar experience in their life. Although they turn out to be the most positive people I have ever known, I wondered deep down how much they have gone through in their lives? Hanna is the visual expression of common feelings that we all may identify with.

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

Hanna's story is not uncommon, Hanna could be any person that you loved, a friend, a relative of yours. I want to make it poetic, experimental and personal. Sparse in dialogue and action, my Vérité-style cinematography will make the audience feel like they partner with Hanna during her journey through her emotions. We see what she sees, we experience what she experiences, she is alone in this big city.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

Overall, I want to talk about courage, love and family relationship in this film. On the more personal level, I think it's very difficult for Hanna to forget about someone that she loved, and it takes a lot of courage for taking the initiative to find that closure and move on.

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

I think simplicity is the glory of expression. My goal was to tell a very beautiful yet simple story by utilizing minimum production equipment and manpower. My business partner Nicholas Guldner jumped onboard as my sound recordist as well as helped me tighten up the script. On set I let our lead actress - Nancy Cantine - perform the full scene in a one-take-master-shot in each location. Most of the scenes were shot on a 50mm prime lens. Her outstanding performance gave me tremendous footage, I was able to find that “youth” of Hanna in the editing process. Though the script was just a few pages long, over the two-day filming period we had a solid 15 minutes short film.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Mostly very good! I'm very grateful for that, especially hearing feedback from some friends of mine who also work as cinematographers, they loved my visual approach in Hanna. Some of the audiences told me that they have their heart broken for “Hanna”, others told me that this is a different type of film that shot in New York City, it doesn't celebrate the fancy side of it.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

One of the film festival directors told me that when he watched “Hanna”, he just wanted to dive into the story and be there with her. And that's exactly the goal that I want to achieve in this film.

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

I just want to show this movie to as many people as I can. I hope it will pique interest and if people would like to watch the full film, I'm happy to share a private link to them, just send me an email. I also hope to generate new opportunities to collaborate with talented filmmakers.

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

“Hanna” is a passion project of mine, I would like to showcase it in more film festivals, it would be great to talk to festival directors and have journalists write about it. And of course I would love to have marketing company/distributors to help me promote my work.

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

I would like audiences enjoy the storytelling and cinematography in “Hanna”, beyond that I would hope people pay more attention to friends, students and families who have gone through similar experiences.

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

How to forgive and forget about the past and move on with your life?

Would you like to add anything else?

Just thank you for the opportunity and all the feedback is much appreciated. I would love to hear what the audience thinks of Hanna.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I'm working on a personal documentary about my grandfather, he passed away many years ago, he had a pretty interesting life story. It will be a mixed media art documentary so it's a new challenge for me.

Interview: November 2016

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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

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Hanna

Length: 14 min 58 sec

Director/Cinematographer/Producer/Writer: Hai-Tao Wu

About the writer, director and producer:

Originally from Taiwan, Hai-Tao Wu received his M.F.A degree in Writing/Directing from City College of New York and soon after co-founded Mad Hatter Media Group, a Brooklyn-based film production company to which is currently its Creative Director. Hai-Tao is the recipient of several awards as Director, Producer and Director of Photography.

Key cast: Nancy Cantine, Darnell Dudley, Jennifer Sabour and Ella Steinbeck

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):

Producer, representation agencies as well as more like-minded filmmakers

Funders: Hai-Tao Wu

Made in association with: Mad Hatter Media Group.

http://www.madhattermediagroup.com/

Release date: February 2017