A Room Without Doors or Windows

September 2011: Night falls in the English countryside. In this new, strange place, I feel isolated from the only world I have ever known. I am on the threshold of adulthood and am full of uncertainty about what will become of me in the future. Alone in this strange, dark place, a train of thought and imagination is unleashed that changes my whole world. This experimental essay film follows a long night of the soul to the edge of feeling completely alone in the world, and shows my way back.

  • Hendrik Ehlers
    Director
  • Hendrik Ehlers
    Writer
  • Jennifer Drake
    Producer
  • Kirsten Wehr
    Producer
  • Samuel Zerbato
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Docufiction, Hybrid, Essay Film, Essay, Experimental, Autobiographical
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    400 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Television and Film Munich
  • Oberhausen International Short Film Festival
    Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia
    Germany
    May 7, 2022
Director Biography - Hendrik Ehlers

Hendrik Ehlers is a British-German director who studies Non-Fiction Film Directing at the University of Television and Film, Munich (HFF München). [https://hff-muc.de]

He also has a BA in Psychology and Philosophy, and an MSc in Neuroscience from the University of Oxford.

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Director Statement

10 years ago, my family moved from London to the countryside. I felt isolated in this new place, where the nights were truly dark in a way I had never experienced before. Away from the reassuring social world I'd know, worries that I had been suppressing began to assert themselves. I was confronted with anxieties about my value as a filmmaker in a competitive world and whether I could ever truly communicate any part of myself to another person.

I made this film to try to share and explore the feelings of this part of my life with others. I trust that many people have also felt similarly trapped in a room without doors or windows, and that this film might help them to feel less alone.