Award of Excellence – “Message To Future Generations” (Canada)

Title: Message To Future Generations
Runtime: 3 min
Country: Canada
Director: Sorin Pavelesco
Placement: Award of Excellence
Competition: December, 2020

Synopsis: A short artistic film with a message of hope on the daily activities of a North American family during the COVID-19 quarantine of mid-March-April 2020.

FILMMAKER Q&A – Sorin Pavelesco – Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer, Composer

OR: What was the inspiration for your film?

SP: During the very first Covid-19 quarantine that hit North America in early March 2020 I remember thinking that I had to stay creative for my own sanity… A lot of my corporate projects got cancelled. Everybody was in shock. Scared, worried. The bad news was everywhere, radio, TV, internet, there was no escaping it. Little by little, as the days went by, I realized that I had everything I needed at home, my family, my health and their love. That’s when it clicked.

OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?

SP: Pretty much overnight I had a lot of time on my hands as many businesses shut down. As a result several contracts were cancelled on my end. And so I decided to chronicle our daily activities at home—at the very least it would serve as a log! The idea of making a short poetic film started flourishing. I thought about all the scenes I wanted to film. As a challenge I committed to only one lens (a Voigtlander 25mm f0.95), I composed the musical theme, and then I started working on a short script that would serve as the intro. I asked my friend Larry Day, a renowned Canadian actor, if he’d like to be the voice of my movie and he agreed to narrate it. From beginning to end it took about 5-6 weeks.

OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?

SP: I wanted to include as many different scenes as possible to demonstrate the plethora of daily activities and I had to be very critical at the editing stage in order to make everything flow. I wanted to tell a big story in a very short amount of time and I had to make sure I covered all the topics that were important to me. This process taught me how to be succinct and straight to the point.

OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?

SP: I had to choose the right time of day in order to shoot all the scenes as I challenged myself to only use one lens and natural ambient light. Available light therefore dictated most of the scenes. I always had to position myself to absorb as much light as possible from windows. I used a reflector whenever needed. I learnt a lot during this process.

OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?

SP: Keep believing in yourself, your craft and always strive to learn.