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The Morning After

A backpacker awakes at dawn in a rice paddy field outside Siem Reap...with no knowledge of how he got there, what happened the night before - or where his girlfriend is.

  • Leanne Mangan
    Director
  • Leanne Mangan
    Writer
  • Leanne Mangan
    Producer
  • Sean Cousins
    Producer
    Tony Robinson's Time Walks; Tony Robinson Explores Australia; Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled
  • Luke Middlebrook
    Key Cast
    54 Days; Briar Phoenix Stoneheart
  • Tep Rindaro
    Key Cast
    First They Killed My Father
  • Hilde Marie Kvaløsæter
    Key Cast
  • Rocco Fasano
    Cinematographer
    Indian Wedding Race; Children of the Sex Trade
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    October 10, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Cambodia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • A Night Of HorrorFIlm Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    November 29, 2017
    Australian; World
  • Southern Shorts Awards
    Georgia
    United States
    January 20, 2018
    North American Premiere
    Award of Merit, Best Mystery/Thriller
  • Creation International Film Festival
    Ontario
    Canada
    December 2, 2017
    Best Produced Short Screenplay, Best First Time Filmmaker
  • OregonShort Film Festival 2018
    Portland
    United States
    February 3, 2018
    Oregon Premiere
    Best International Director
  • Arthouse Asia Filmmakers Confluence
    Kolkata
    India
    January 26, 2018
    Indian Premiere
  • Festigious Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Best Drama, Dec 2017
  • Independent Horror Movie Awards

    United States
    Best Writing - Dec 2017
  • For Films Sake
    Sydney
    Australia
    April 14, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Short+Sweet Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    March 20, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Cambodia International Film Festival
    Phnom Penh
    Cambodia
    March 10, 2018
    Cambodian & South East Asian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Swindon Independent Film Festival
    Swindon
    United Kingdom
    April 6, 2018
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Cine Pobre Film Festival
    La Paz
    Mexico
    May 3, 2018
    Mexico Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Motor City Nightmares Film Festival
    Detroit
    United States
    April 28, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Peninsula Film Festival
    Melbourne
    Australia
    April 19, 2018
    Official Selection
  • End of Days Film Festival
    Florida
    United States
    Official Selection
  • MidWest Weird Fest
    Wisconsin
    United States
    March 10, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Peninsula Film Festival
    Mornington Peninsula
    Australia
    February 10, 2018
    Victorian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Ocean Coast Film Festival
    Oporto
    Portugal
    September 7, 2018
    Portugal Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Cambodia Town Film Festival
    Long Beach
    United States
    September 15, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Genre Celebration Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    Best Director, Dec '17
  • Changing Face International Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    Best Short Drama, Jan '18
  • Melbourne Independent Film Awards
    Melbourne
    Australia
    Best Editing, Honorable Mention
  • Altff Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    Finalist, Best Drama, Winter '17
  • Los Angeles Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Honorable Mention: Original Story, Feb 2018
  • Detroit SheTown Film Festival
    Detroit
    United States
    September 15, 2018
    Official Selection. Nominated for Breakout Filmmaker
  • Best Short Fest
    Ontario
    Canada
    Official Selection; Semi-finalist.
Director Biography - Leanne Mangan

This is Leanne's first film as a director, having predominantly been a writer and actor. In 2016 Leanne graduated from the Australian Film, TV and Radio School with an Advanced Diploma in Screenwriting for Series TV, and in 2017 studied the Advanced Diploma in Script Editing for Production, also at AFTRS.

Leanne was shortlisted for this script, for the Monte Miller Award by the Australian Writers' Guild. The script is now currently a top 10 finalist in the PAGE screenwriting award, and was a semi-finalist in the WeScreenplay DIverse Voices Contest earlier this year. She was recently at the Stowe Fall Writers Lab, working on her latest drama pilot, ReMade.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I wrote the script for this film during my AFTRS Screenwriting course, but never thought I'd get it made...and so, decided to make it myself (subsequently falling in love with filmmaking). I funded it myself, and in association with Sean Cousins of Filmmaker Abroad, assembled a team to film it in Cambodia.

The story is based loosely on an event during my honeymoon some years ago in Siem Reap, so I wanted to return there to shoot it. A great fan of Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, I am very interested in memory, and the tricks our mind plays on us during times of great stress or trauma. The whole country of Cambodia is moving beyond the tragedies of its past, partly, for some, by burying the worst memories, and so it is only fitting I should set it there.