Born on Sunday Silent

Logline:
Haunted by Kai, the child spirit she is researching, student Abba-Yaa gets more than she bargains for when she discovers the true horrors of the past.

Synopsis:
After an encounter with Kai, the spirit of the Black child she is researching, 18-year old student Abba-Yaa agrees to a bargain. On a promise to be shown something of Kai’s past, Abba-Yaa takes the trickster spirit out of the cemetery where she has been trapped for over 100 years. Kai guides Abba-Yaa back in time where she witnesses the horrors of the past, but when Abba-Yaa tries to get back to the present, Kai makes a split second decision that alters the fate of both of them.

  • Eelyn Lee
    Director
  • Désirée Reynolds
    Writer
  • Eelyn Lee
    Writer
  • Rebecca Mark-Lawson
    Producer
  • Daria Nitsche
    Producer
  • Zuna Newman
    Key Cast
    "Abba-Yaa"
  • Karis Musongole
    Key Cast
    "Kai"
  • Nana-Essi Casely-Hayford
    Key Cast
    "Maame Ama"
  • Bel Odawa
    Key Cast
    "Yatso"
  • Paul Giddings
    Key Cast
    "Librarian"
  • John Rwothomack
    Key Cast
    "Dancer"
  • Philroy Peters
    Key Cast
    "Drummer"
  • Sharnelle Anson
    Key Cast
    "Midwife"
  • Tala Lee-Turton
    Trainee Producer
  • Baff Akoto
    Executive Producer
  • Benjamin Taylor
    Executive Producer
  • Ray Miller-Davis
    Director of Photography
  • Christine Ting - Huan Urquhart
    Production Designer
  • Manuela Lupini
    Editor
  • Idris Blac
    Composer
  • Michael F. Bates AMPS
    Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer
  • Nicci Topping CSA CDA
    Casting Director
  • Tyke Films
    Production Company
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Fantasy
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 8 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 25, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English, Other
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Bolton International Film Festival
    Bolton, Greater Manchester
    United Kingdom
    October 3, 2024
    BFI Screening
  • Leeds International Film Festival
    Leeds
    United Kingdom
    November 6, 2024
    BFI Network Showcase
  • FFStival
    Sheffield
    United Kingdom
    November 23, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Eelyn Lee

Eelyn Lee is an artist and writer-director of Hong Kong-English heritage. She has exhibited at Barbican, Tate Modern and National Portrait Gallery, and been selected for international film festivals. In 2015 her award-winning short film Life and Deaf screened at the Berlinale and in 2017 Creature of the Estuary was selected for the International Fiction Programme at the Bogota Short Film Festival. Eelyn’s short gothic films Monster [2015] and Creature of the Estuary [2016] feature BAFTA / Palme d’Or winner, Anamaria Marinca and were selected for the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica film festival.

In 2021 Eelyn completed Casting Fu Manchu, a ‘lockdown’ film that sees eleven actors of East and Southeast Asian heritage subvert the racist character of Dr Fu Manchu. Eelyn is currently developing Yellow Peril, her debut narrative feature. https://eelynlee.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I first read the short story, Born on Sunday, Silent I was immediately inspired to adapt it into a short film. In the story, Désirée - the author - is haunted by Kai and her unknown past. The author’s quest to discover who the dead baby is, turns into a nightmarish journey of banging on doors that won’t open; on walls that fall silent. For the past couple of years I have been developing Yellow Peril, a feature script set in a small estuarine community, that sees the horrors of Empire coming back to haunt the British shores. I was struck how Born on Sunday, Silent resonated with the themes and genres I was already exploring.

My Chinese/English heritage and embodied racialised experiences motivate my interest in race, identity and ‘othering’. Désirée and I wrote the screenplay through the pandemic. The murder of George Floyd and resurgence of the Black Lives Matters movement, during a upsurge of COVID-related Asian Hate added additional layers of urgency to the telling of this story. Using new and familiar film language I am interested in revisiting the horrors of the past through a contemporary gothic lens.