Experiencing Interruptions?

A.D.

When a close-knit family of three and a family friend are faced with the suicide of a loved one, they are forced to confront the roles they played in the death and the turbulent emotions that are associated with grief.

  • Cara Leane Spence
    Director
  • Cara Leane Spence
    Writer
  • Sam Pelteret
    Producer
  • Taryn Markus
    Key Cast
    "Rose"
  • Chélene Kreusch
    Key Cast
    "Alice Hudson "
  • Leon Clingman
    Key Cast
    "Thomas Hudson"
    Action Point
  • Debi Thomas Hawkins
    Key Cast
    "Talia Hudson "
    Murdering Agatha Christie
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Melodrama, Dark Comedy
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 14, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    600 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    South Africa
  • Country of Filming:
    South Africa
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • AFDA Cape Town Experimental Festival
    Cape Town
    South Africa
    June 16, 2018
    South African Premiere
    Top 5 Films
Director Biography - Cara Leane Spence

Cara is an incredibly creative and passionate individual, who puts 110% of herself into everything she does. Raised in Pretoria, Cara attended Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, matriculating in 2015, before attending AFDA in 2016, and loves spending time with her family and friends. She is an exceptionally hardworking and dedicated Director who will always go the extra mile, and who, without fail, will always stop to pet the first cat that she sees.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The motivation behind making a film about suicide and the consequences of untreated mental illnesses came about through my experiences with my own mental illness and the impact of it on the people I love. The purpose of the film is to show the consequences of untreated mental illness – to prompt people to do something if they know of a loved one struggling with depression or anxiety or any other mental illness.
Suicide is an epidemic. It is the second-highest cause of death for teenagers and young adults. More than 300 million people struggle with depression worldwide. Not only did I want to share the devastating consequences of an untreated mental illness, I also want to share a bit of my own story - my own struggle with depression and the isolation, pain and the loss of motivation or passion that goes along with it. I thought of the story at a time where I felt lonely, betrayed by my family’s disinterest in helping and taking care of me. I wanted to write a story where a family (my family) has to go through the heart-wrenching devastation of losing a loved one to suicide. It evolved from that point forward.
The story started to revolve around the family, rather than about the deceased. I started seeing things from my family’s perspective; their inability to take care of even themselves, their ignorance regarding mental illness and the consequent helplessness that arose. It became their story, as they started blaming each other and themselves. The controlling idea became needing acceptance to change and becoming a better person after the death of a loved one.
After reflection, I was made aware that the person that made the story truly interesting, the original impetus for the story, had been buried under all the other characters and their emotions. The story was originally about Dawn, and it had to return to just that.
The question the film now asks is: what if you had a chance to observe your own funeral, to observe the consequences of your actions, to hurt people as they have hurt you? Dawn had to reach acceptance in order to move on (to the afterlife).