Damsel'd

When two university students discover an app that lets them send messages between other people's phones, they search for a way to use this new-found power.

  • Michael Mclennan
    Director
    Aristeia, The Way You Move, pinch me, Go Quickly, A Tea Party for Sad People, Traveller
  • Michael Mclennan
    Writer
    The Way You Move, Aristeia, pinch me, Go Quickly, The Way You Move, Traveller
  • Michael Mclennan
    Producer
    Aristeia, The Way You Move, pinch me, Go Quickly, The Way You Move, Traveller
  • Lucy Mills
    Key Cast
    "Luna"
  • Aimee Raval
    Key Cast
    "Sofia"
  • Natalie Lackerdis
    Key Cast
    "Olivia"
  • Sujan Karki Dholi
    Key Cast
    "Prabhash"
  • Rahul Dorai
    Cinematography
    The Way You Move, Aristeia
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    College, Cyberbullying
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 12, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Ursa G2 Ironglass Lenses
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Wavelength Films
    Distributor
    Country: Australia
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Michael Mclennan

Michael McLennan is an Australian-based writer/director whose short films have played at film festivals around the world. These films include 'Aristeia', 'Damsel'd', 'pinch me', 'Traveller', ‘Standby’, ‘A Tea Party for Sad People’ and ‘Go Quickly’. He was Head of Production and Head of Film at Sydney Film School, where he taught Screen Language, Writing, Post-Production and Creativity, and supervised hundreds of films made at the School. He has taught film more broadly at Academy of Film Theatre and Television, AFTRS, Excelsia College, Bradfield College, the Conservatorium of Music, TAFE NSW and AIT. Michael currently has three feature scripts in development, and is completing post-production on science fiction project 'Initiate: Connect'.

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Director Statement

The name Pegasus (courtesy of NSO Group) surfaced in news media for a couple of days in 2021 before vanishing from collective memory. The thought came to invoke the zero-click-hacking tool in a story that could almost have been a Shakespearean comedy. University students, detached from their studies, conspire to make matches using a surveillance app. Unlike a Shakespearean comedy, it couldn’t end well. The setting of a business course, complete with ethics classes that the students are barely aware of, was no accident. Perhaps the detachment that enables us to rationalise harmful actions comes early.

Laurent Cantet's The Class (2008) strongly influenced our style, in particular the lensing of Milon and Pujol. Robert Bresson weighed heavily on our approach too. We rarely left the 50mm lens, largely operated handheld, used only diegetic music and tried to favour behaviour over intention in our performances. The intent was that these choices would make the world believable, and root us in a non-judgemental perspective until the first real wide shot: the final image of lonely individual in an empty room.