Experiencing Interruptions?

Be Here To Love Me

A grief-stricken director loses touch with the line between fiction and reality. In pursuit of moving through her grief through her art, she risks losing herself along the way.

  • Brit Phelan
    Director
  • Brit Phelan
    Writer
  • Jimmy Jollif
    Writer
  • Catherine Bergin
    Key Cast
    "Brit Phelan"
  • Sierra Fujita-Puett
    Key Cast
    "Rooney Katina"
  • Ben Krugliak
    Key Cast
    "Ben"
  • Jack Gorham
    Key Cast
    "Therapist"
  • Perseus Phelan
    Key Cast
    "Percy"
  • Ben Braden
    Key Cast
    "Jimmy Fallon"
  • Brit Phelan
    Producer
  • Marshall Douglis
    Director of Photography
  • Kyle Thor
    Gaffer
  • Ashley Navid
    Set Designer
  • Brit Phelan
    Editor
  • Sofia Chang
    Assistant Editors
  • Blake Snawder
    Assistant Editors
  • Kevin Woo
    Visual Effects
  • Marshall Douglis
    Colorist
  • Charles Moody
    Sound Editor and Mixer
  • Jordan Elena
    Score Producer
  • Sheryl Crow
    Music
  • Karios Creature Club
    Music
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 16, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Brit Phelan

Phelan is a half-American, half-German director who explores intimacy and connection through her own vulnerability as a queer creative woman.

Her narrative style— which has attracted partnerships with brands such as White Claw, Nike, Verizon, Twitter, and Puma— skillfully balances meticulous attention to detail with a keen and loving eye for the messiness of the human experience. Her style gives herself and viewers permission to be imperfect and unresolved.

In her short film Be Here to Love Me, Phelan explorers flawed connections through a surreal recreation of her own lived experience. In her short documentary Looking for Love, Phelan investigates the age-old question of “what is love and community?” In her feature-film debut Finding Dad, she masterfully blurs reality using found footage techniques and everyday communication styles, inviting viewers to break the fourth wall and see themselves reflected in a story about love, connection, and what it means to belong. She currently resides between Paris and New York.

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Director Statement

While searching for creative inspiration during the pandemic, I came across Steven Spielberg’s “Vanessa in the Garden” which follows a man overcome by grief over the tragic death of his wife and his attempts to bring her back to life through his art. I realized that imaginative stories like “Vanessa in the Garden” rarely focus on queer relationships and could benefit from an updated perspective.
With this rush of inspiration and acknowledgment of a gap in surrealist storytelling, I decided to create my own sci-fi drama. My goal was to create a short film that viewers could see themselves reflected in, but with the surreal lens of science fiction. I created Be Here to Love Me to process the ending of my own recent relationships and to give queer stories and relatable romantic dynamics the platform they deserve. Be Here to Love Me pushed me to develop a story that multiple perspectives could be reflected in while maintaining an unconventional plot that would keep viewers intrigued.