The defiant act of shaving her head helps 25-year-old Ellie find hope in the face of a recent breast cancer diagnosis.

Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Kerith Lemon

Watch Bare here:

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

“Who will I be without my hair, without my breasts.” The first time I read those lines in Rebecca Hall’s short story I knew I needed to make this film, especially since I had known her since we were young. I was swept away by the truthfulness of a 25 year old going through this, the breast cancer experience, one that is mostly portrayed in mainstream media as an older woman’s disease.

It’s easy to see then how one can get wrapped up in the seemingly superficial concern about losing your hair and breasts. As a society we place such importance on outward identity, as women we’re taught at a young age that we are our hair and breasts. That is what makes us female and faced with the idea of losing both, it calls our identity at its core into question. I wanted to open that up to discussion, not just for the cancer community but to the female community as a whole, to one day get beyond physical and into emotional identity.

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

The reasons are endless! Cancer, especially breast cancer amongst women is so pervasive, it’s hard to speak to anyone about the topic without them chiming in that they have a mother, aunt or friend that have gone through it. I think that everyone that watches can come away with greater empathy for those that are going through the experience and also understand that to support someone the most important thing you can do is show up.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The overall theme of the film is empathy. bare exposes an emotional journey one that most of us may never take on our own. As someone that has now supported more friends through breast cancer than I care to admit, I feel like we need to be even more empathetic to those who are summoning the strength to live. That the journey is filled with ups and downs and that our job as friends is to be there, to show up no matter what.

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

The script was adapted from the short story ‘Hair’ that Rebecca Hall wrote, we co-wrote the script together so the evolution was very organic. We wanted to make sure that this film was accessible to all those who watched so we fictionalized the characters and took some liberties with how things played out but for the most part this film is very true to the real life experience. For production I was pretty married to my initial idea of doing a memory sequence. I’m very proud of the 3 minute long single shot that captured what was going through her mind in the moments before she shaves her head.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback has been tremendous. As a creative to hear people say to you that they were moved or could feel what the character is going through is the most enormous compliment. And above all it’s creating awareness for young people that they also are at risk for breast cancer. Predominately young women are diagnosed at a later stage of cancer because either they don’t get the symptoms checked out quickly enough or they’re not given the medical attention that may be warranted due to their young age. We can’t wait to share this with more people and continue the conversation!

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

It has not been surprising, we knew that people would connect to the content, we just needed to find the right time and place to get it in front of people. The film will be coming out online on October 23 for breast cancer awareness month.

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

We’re thrilled to have been selected to be featured! We’d love to get the film in front of a larger audience in order to raise awareness about breast cancer.

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

Of course we’d love to continue our festival run and need continued publicity. We’d everyone to watch and share the film.

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

The overall goal is to spread the message globally and help to raise funds for more research especially for stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer isn’t selective; it affects all women and even men. It’s important to watch and #bare – breast aware, regular exams.

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

I think a key question is who am I without my hair and breasts?

Would you like to add anything else?

As a working female director in this industry I’d like to continue to elevate other women creatives in any way that I can. Through better hiring practices and more mentorship opportunities, it’s my goal to help in any way that I can to give all women the opportunity to work in this incredible industry. I love to collaborate with others and would love to connect online and in real life to support.

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

Kerith Lemon is currently directing a myriad of commercials and branded content and is in development on several features one of which will go into production Summer ‘18

Interview: October 2017

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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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bare

The defiant act of shaving her head helps 25-year-old Ellie find hope in the face of a recent breast cancer diagnosis.

Length: 13 minutes

Director: Kerith Lemon

Producer: Kerith Lemon & Mike Gugat

Writer: Rebecca Hall & Kerith Lemon

About the writer, director and producer:

Key cast: Aurora Perrineau, BK Cannon, Melissa Cordero & Leah Henoch

Social media handles:

Facebook: facebook.com/bareAshortfilm

Twitter: twitter.com/bareshortfilm