Private Project

Divine Origins

As teenage Ama begins a new relationship with a young lifeguard, she can’t escape a quiet haunting - an otherworldly encounter that feels increasingly familiar.

  • Milla Lewis
    Director
    Mercy (2022), Kings Of Our Own Right (2022)
  • Milla Lewis
    Writer
    Mercy (2022), Kings Of Our Own Right (2022)
  • Xanvier Allison
    Producer
    A Death In The Family (2025), Salt (2025), Blackout (2025)
  • PASCALE KANN
    Key Cast
    "Ama"
    September Says (2024), The Dream Lands (BBC, 2026)
  • ZUBIN VARLA
    Key Cast
    "Ike"
    Ish (2025), The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2024), A Little Life (2023), Andor (2022), Our Girl (2013-14)
  • MASON DHOKIA
    Key Cast
    "Sam"
    Hunting Alice Bell (2025), Casualty (TV)
  • RUTH LASS
    Key Cast
    "Orna"
    Disobedience (2017), The Ashes You Leave Behind (2022), Alive and Kicking (1996).
  • EUGENIA CARUSO
    Key Cast
    "The Woman"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Coming of Age, Romance, Family, Magical Realism
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 16, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    16,000 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:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Milla Lewis

Milla Lewis is a Writer/Director based in London, whose work explores ideas around social, sexual and psychological alienation, intimacy, and self-haunting. After studying photography she transitioned to filmmaking, self-shooting short documentaries. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Directing Internship Programme at the Polish National Film School in Łódź, where she wrote and directed her debut narrative short ‘Mercy’. Exploring power dynamics and sexual alienation through the taboo of sex work, the film led to a Sundance Ignite Fellowship in 2023, and was selected for festivals including Tirana International Film Festival, the 14th LGBT Film Festival Poland, Torino Underground Cinefest, Cinema no Estendal and the 225 Club at the BFI. Under the mentorship of Laurel Parmet, she completed her second short film ‘Divine Origins’ in 2025, supported by the Sundance Institute. An unsettling coming-of-age story set in London, the film stars Pascale Kann (September Says, 2024) and Zubin Varla (Laurence Olivier Award-Winner, 2023). Alongside developing her own film projects, Milla has worked in a range of roles across film and TV production, including for Channel 4, Arte.tv, BBC4, and within the charity sector.

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Director Statement

I am interested in what we see when we look at our past, and if this past leaves a molecular and spiritual residue. All of our ghosts are coming to us - they require something of us. What should we do with those family ‘ghosts’ that often make surprising appearances in our lives?

From an early age, I understood that there were invisible and unspoken factors shaping my upbringing and worldview. This was compounded by the stories and myths of my grandparents, their parents, and ancestors further back. Each life seemed to haunt the next; like a thick, black stream collecting debris as it travels, so I came to see these past lives as an undercurrent coursing almost imperceptibly through the lives of my parents, my siblings and me.

Each act of self contains an unknowable legacy of many past individuals, which have all played a part in how we understand ourselves. Singular events that happened generations ago can trickle down into our lives, and have a subtle yet profound impact on it. My filmmaking is driven by a desire to bring to light these invisible currents.