ANNIVERSARY
Aurora prepares
for a special anniversary dinner
She goes about her day, alone, reminiscing about her lover, but a truth hangs over her like a dark cloud.
Women making films
Anniversary was produced and shot in 2014, without a script and all in one day, with a minimal crew - which accidentally all happened to be female, bar one, Ivan from NPG who was recording the sound. This film was a warm up of sorts for director and writer Sarah Jayne who was going onto direct a much bigger project, Daughter the following year. The film was shot in one location, the sets were dressed by the director and the acting was superbly undertaken by Hester Van Der Vyver, who is a theatre actor. Much more footage was shot then was used in the final edit, the film sits under 7 minutes in total and is online to enjoy through NPG's Vimeo account (see below).
Directors Statement
Anniversary is a short story I wrote that was inspired by one of my favourite Alanis Morisette songs, I Shouldn't be Here. The song tells the story of a woman who goes to her boyfriend's house uninvited when he is not there, makes herself at home, and then finds a note from a lover that is not in her handwriting. The twist in the song comes at that moment and you realise she is intruding.
I wrote Anniversary with a similar idea to that song, but I wanted it to be more of a visual snapshot of a woman's life, her day and her isolation, and how she goes about preparing a special dinner to mark an anniversary with her husband.
We shot Anniversary in a single day and post production was completed in approximately two weeks, just in time for a premiere at the Connect Film Festival, which we were aiming to enter. It was a quick turnaround, but I am proud of the result and grateful to my cast and crew for creating this beautiful little film with me.
