Behind You

An awkward woman gets caught in her obsessive-compulsive habit of staring at people's butts and has to prove to an indignant stranger that her compulsion gives her valuable insights into the humanity of those around her.

  • Beth Ashby
    Director
    World Hunger, Charm U Crew, Broken Sinclair
  • Beth Ashby
    Writer
    World Hunger, Charm U Crew, Broken Sinclair
  • Kierra Lewis
    Producer
  • Beth Ashby
    Producer
  • Breanna Benedict
    Key Cast
    "Charlotte"
  • Ariel Triunfo
    Key Cast
    "Ashley"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 12, 2022
  • 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:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Columbia College Chicago
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Beth Ashby

An award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker from the Midwest, Beth Ashby perpetually digs for the richer, stranger meaning beneath the outer crust of the ordinary. Before pursuing her MFA at Columbia, Beth worked as a writer, director, and production designer on commercials and digital series for brands including Build-a-Bear, Cepia, and SEGA. Her numerous awards include: first place in Champion Screenwriting Competition and second place in Scriptapalooza, and her independent film work has screened at festivals in two countries, including The Female Eye Film Festival. Her work centers around the fantastical on a personal scale.

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Director Statement

'Behind You' is an unholy amalgam of personal experiences, pseudoscientific nonsense, and attempts to find levity in the worst-case scenarios that run through the heads of those of us whose minds constantly invite us into taboo headspaces. In every choice, I aimed to find the perfect mashup between the harsh realism of being in public and the unreal, isolated intensity of two people looking at - and taking the time to truly see - each other. Seeing and being seen are both commonplace and dangerous. Quite deliberately, though there are other people in the cafe, the two main characters are the only people whose eyes the camera ever sees. Even though the other patrons are unwittingly being looked at, none of them choose to disrupt their lives and look back. What I hope to find in 'Behind You' is what feels like an impossible conversation that reveals how easy it can be to find the truth in someone if you just...look.