Ball is Ball

‘Ball is Ball’ was inspired by events that have lived in my journals and been discussed in therapy for years. The first time I got drunk with friends, I blacked out. When I came back into consciousness I was being sexually assaulted by another friend in a house I’d never been in. I was in high school and didn’t know how to handle the situation, so I didn’t tell my parents and no report was ever filed. With the rise of the #MeToo movement in recent years and the criticism against survivors that came with it, asking “why now” or “that was so long ago”, I wanted to shed light on how present trauma can feel no matter how much time has passed. For fellow survivors, I wanted to create a film that felt honest without glorifying the horror, but also encouraged them to show themselves empathy if their instinctual reaction to a situation isn’t what they’d always planned. Creating this project has been therapeutic in many ways and my hope is that it can be a stop on someone else’s healing journey as well.

We made several conscious decisions in our filmmaking including shooting on film and digital. The film portion creates a nostalgic feeling for the memory that’s taking place. We furthered this distinction through our wardrobe and set design, placing older technology throughout. The change to digital and tighter aspect ratio at the end is to emphasize the confinement our character Robin is feeling in the present. I had an amazingly talented cast and crew that really poured themselves into the project. This film will always be special to me and I hope you enjoy it.