Breakfast

Failed by the government's skint food parcel program in the midst of a pandemic, Cyrene goes to extremes to provide for her four year old daughter.

  • Eilera Ellie
    Director
  • Eilera Ellie
    Writer
  • Eilera Ellie
    Producer
  • Melissa Barnuevo
    Key Cast
    "Cyrene"
  • Emily Rakovszky
    Key Cast
    "Luci"
  • Miles Jones
    Key Cast
    "Jake"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 26, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    800 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - TU Dublin
Director Biography - Eilera Ellie

Eilera is a 25-year-old director currently based in London. Born in Lithuania, she grew up and studied film in Ireland. While there, she took a break from the course to travel all around the world and collect inspiration from people's stories of various backgrounds, directing a few music videos and short films ('Chasing Rainbows' (co-directed 2018) and 'Angels Gotta Fly' (2020)) in the process. She returned to film the graduate short 'Breakfast' in the midst of the pandemic, working without a crew for the first time due to the circumstances. Her dream is to direct a feature film of her own, but until then, she is focused on smaller directing projects and works as an assitant director on other film shoots.

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Director Statement

'Breakfast' reflects on UK's child food poverty, bringing the crisis of the pandemic down to an individual personal narrative. As the country went through its scandal of private caterers pocketing state money while providing children with inadequate nutrition, a news image of a half sliced pepper wrapped in cling film got stuck in my head. It was one of the items given to a family to last them a week. How can a corporation be so stingy as to divide a PEPPER in half between families? While heartbreaking, UK's child hunger is only the tip of the iceberg globally.

I personally connect to that pain of hunger as a child, having been previously fully dependent on a primary school meal for daily food. Accompanied by the difficulty of getting through the weekends when hunger prevents one from falling asleep. So the film is a personal exploration, as much as a reflection on the wider social issue. It brings in a surrealist situation in terms of actions taken by a fierce mother who attempts to feed her young daughter without resorting to undignified actions such as stealing.