LA ShortsFest - Ari
After a humiliating quest to become someone else, Ari finds
that he is of surprising value.
Interview with Writer/Director Alex Murawski
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Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thanks! I wanted to tell a story about a character who didn’t like who he was and felt insignificant and unseen. My aim was to show a character who tries to change in order to better fit in and find acceptance but finds it an even more humiliating and painful process than being alone. Ultimately it’s about accepting yourself – and if people like you for
that, then great, but it’s not the be all and end all. The most important thing is you accepting you.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Hopefully you watch it because you enjoy being engaged in a good story and characters and like how films can create atmosphere and explore ideas because that is what I like in films.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Interesting question! I try and think about the personal inner life of the character, what they want and what is the tension in this desire. Certainly I find myself relating to this in some personal way as that propels me to write the story – but it’s not always in a literal way. Like Ari, I had a recent experience where I desperately wanted to belong and I thought that being a different type of person would help that. But it didn’t! So in this way the themes are personal even if the story and situation is not. I then think that I cannot be the only one who has
felt this conflict and so I hope others will relate to the character and the story and it will speak to many different people.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their
development and production?
It depends on the production. Sometimes a script naturally evolves through new ideas that come about with seeing locations and discussions with crew, but with Ari it largely stayed the same. However, there was a key area of development that came from rehearsals. Jaxon (the actor who plays Ari) and I worked through many improvisations and co-created the
backstory. This brought to light certain aspects of the character that weren’t as fleshed out in the script.
For instance, when Ari writes the love letter in class the actual content of the letter was not in the script. It evolved during rehearsal where we decided that his character was new to the school and had been shown around on his first day by Jess, the classmate he has a crush on. If you listen carefully to the whispering voice over in that scene he says ‘thank you for showing me round the school, it was my best day so far’ – this was not in the original script and worked really well to include it in the scene.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Overall positive reviews, but people don’t often criticize a short film to your face! There have been some people who have come out of their way to say nice things about the film when they needn’t have. I think that shows that the film has affected people and that’s really encouraging.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not challenged, but people often ask what did the film “mean”? But ultimately I want people to think for themselves so that can be tricky to respond to. For instance, in Ari, there is a surprising action that the character takes towards the end; it’s unexpected and so people need
to process that in themselves to consider what it meant – if it was a courageous gesture, defeatist, individualist, absurdist etc. etc. While I have my thoughts on it I don’t want them to override other peoples, so it’s better not to comment too much.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on
www.wearemovingstories.com?
I love that We Are Moving Stories promotes emerging filmmakers and to have a site like yours spotlight Ari can get more people to watch it and be moved by it, which is ultimately why I wanted to make the film.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers,
distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this
film’s message?
Film Festival directors always help a short film be seen by many people, so that is handy. Ari doesn’t have a distributor yet so that would be great to get one on board too.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to
have?
For to make people smile, even if they don’t quite know why. Perhaps that comes later after some reflection. But first and foremost I’d like this film to make people smile at the end.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a
conversation about this film?
I think the relationship between Ari and his coach is really interesting. The coach has Ari’s best intentions at heart, but are our good intentions that beneficial if they override a person’s sense of themselves?
Would you like to add anything else?
These were great questions!
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Writer/Director, Alex Murawski was an inaugural recipient of the Lexus Short Film Fellowship and is making a short film called Snow in December.
Annmaree J Bell, the producer, has just released her first feature film Teenage Kicks.
Interview: September 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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Ari
After a humiliating quest to become someone else, Ari finds
that he is of surprising value.
Length: 10 mins
Director: Alex Murawski
Producer: Annmaree J Bell
Writer: Alex Murawski
About the writer, director and producer:
Writer/Director – Alex’s short films have screened to worldwide acclaim,
including the Berlinale and Toronto film festivals. He was selected as
director attachment to Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) and is an
inaugural winner of the Lexus Short Film Fellowship.
Producer - Annmaree J Bell is an award-winning filmmaker. Her work has
screened in many festivals nationally and internationally including
Berlin and the Cinefiles in Cannes. Teenage Kicks will be her debut
feature film.
Key cast:
Jaxon Graham-Wilson, Tiarnie Coupland, Alan Dukes
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film
festival directors, journalists):
Distributors and film festival directors
Funders: Screen Australia
Made in association with: Screen Australia
Release date: January 2016
Where can I watch it in the next month?
There’s a couple of film festivals not yet announced, but I’m excited to
say that it will have it’s British Premiere at the Aesthetica Short Film
Festival.