Elegy

After 16 years Catherine and her husband are reunited with their daughter who was kidnapped at birth.

  • John Flynn
    Writer
    Rain, How Long The Night, Until The Night Is Over
  • John Flynn
    Director
    Rain, How Long The Night, Until The Night Is Over
  • Judy Zhong
    Producer
    Francis Ha, Before I Disappear
  • Deukyun Hwang
    Producer
    Anemone, Rain, g:gum
  • John Flynn
    Producer
    The Garden Left Behind, Time To Play, Rain
  • Greg Starr
    Producer
    Atramentous, Tom in America, Girl on the Ledge
  • Jeanine Bartel
    Key Cast
    "Cathy"
  • Eliud Kauffman
    Key Cast
    "Daniel"
  • Liggera Edmonds-Allen
    Key Cast
    "Veronica"
  • Laura Pleasants
    Original Music
    Kylesa, The Discussion
  • Carolina Steele
    Director of Photography
  • Anna Khromova
    Field Sound
  • Shane Taylor
    Sound Design
  • Sam Fischer
    Colorist
    Midsommar, The Lighthouse
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Screencraft Film Fund
    Los Angeles, CA
    September 2, 2020
    Finalist
  • Daisie
    London, England, UK
    June 1, 2019
    Staff Pick
  • New York Council on the Arts DEC Grant
    New York
    January 1, 2020
    Recipient
Director Biography - John Flynn

John Flynn is a New York-based director and producer known for his dark, edgy dramas with complex characters. His love of cinema began with his obsession with Steven Spielberg at a young age; often replicating his films with his mother's camcorder. He began making all sorts of shorts in high school in his AV club but went to the next level when he started working on professional shorts such as Tom in America. Studying under Woody Allen's long time collaborator Thomas Reilly at Brooklyn College, he expanded his knowledge of filmmaking and went on to direct many shorts including Rain, which has screened at festivals and on premium television around the world. He has had films screened at festivals like SXSW, Palm Springs, Montreal World Film Festival, Cleveland, Outfest, and many more worldwide. His most recent film, Elegy, is his most ambitious to date - made during the COVID-19 pandemic and was one of the first official productions to be approved to shoot by New York State and SAG-AFTRA. Flynn currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife.

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Director Statement

When my sister passed away from an accidental overdose in 2017, it had a profound effect on me personally and creatively. I found myself at this weird crossroad of where I should be going with my life. Between having no creative spark left and working on a string of incredibly bad productions, I was considering leaving filmmaking altogether.

A dear friend of mine told me about this crazy thing that happened in Brazil. Someone kidnapped a couple's baby when he was born and 16 years later they found him. When he returned home to his biological parents, he rejected them and wanted to be back with his captor, who raised him as if it was her own. This story of loss, hope, and pain influenced me to make Elegy. I wrote it with "what if a parent had a second chance to be with their child?" in mind, thinking of my mother, who has been devastated since my sister passed. But, as the ending of the film shows you, some things are just meant to happen, no matter how horrible.

But, for me personally, it’s a way to vent the pain I am feeling about my sister’s passing. My entire career I’ve been searching to tell interesting stories that have happened to other people, but I’ve recently been doing more personal things (like my short film How Long The Night, a meditation piece about missing someone I deeply cared about and how it has been affecting my work). Even still, I can’t resist telling a story about how someone else feels, in this case exploring the pain my mother feels.