Private Project

Evergreen

Ethan’s summer escape turns volatile as the unexpected arrival of his increasingly estranged best friend threatens to expose his darkest secrets.

  • Zachary Zebrowitz
    Director
    Sonder, Red Skies
  • Zachary Zebrowitz
    Writer
    Sonder, Red Skies
  • Isabelle Del Sesto
    Writer
  • Alan He
    Producer
    An De Lu, Sonder, Red Skies
  • Makayla Leilua
    Producer
    An De Lu, Sonder
  • Tyler Fewin
    Key Cast
    "Ethan"
    Sonder
  • Anthony McGee
    Key Cast
    "Malik "
  • J. Connor Bjornson
    Director of Photography
    The Disinvited, Oleander
  • Katherine Erickson
    Assistant Director
    Sonder, Red Skies
  • Case Avron
    Editor
    Fish Out of Water, Sonder
  • Alex Peters
    Sound Mixer
  • Nate Gilbert
    Special Thanks
  • Peter Schankowitz
    Special Thanks
  • Christopher Goutman
    Special Thanks
  • Dawn Friedman
    Special Thanks
  • Jonathan Grayson
    Special Thanks
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 3, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Arri 35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Zachary Zebrowitz

Zachary Zebrowitz is a film director, screenwriter, and a recent graduate of NYU Tisch's filmmaking program. His early student films garnered several nominations and awards, opening the door for him to make a larger, more complete project. In 2021, He collaborated with the Modern Military Association of America to create his short film "Red Skies", which follows two young women struggling against the oppressive "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" laws in the United States military. In 2022, Zachary made another short film, "Sonder", which confronted the difficult topic of suicide. His most recent film, "Evergreen", is his most experimental yet, using abstract imagery and grounded characters to take a deep dive into the unspoken angst behind trauma. Zachary is currently preparing his debut feature, taking "Evergreen" to festivals, and shopping his television series "Adolescence" to various studios. He can be stylistically compared to filmmakers such as Agnes Varda and Darren Aronofsky.

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Director Statement

"Evergreen" is a film born from my four-year journey at NYU, where I grew not only as a person but also as a filmmaker. The inception of this project was driven by my desire to delve into a subject often shrouded in silence. Having witnessed the impact of self-harm among young men, a topic scarcely addressed in cinema, I was compelled to bring this issue to light in a manner that respects its complexity.

The artistic choices in "Evergreen" were deliberate in their intention to reflect the intricate nature of the subject. The use of lenses with significant barrel distortion was a conscious decision to impart a dreamlike quality to the film, mirroring the blurred lines between reality and perception often experienced in trauma. The narrative structure of the film is non-linear, open to interpretation, and intertwined with an underlying ambiguous trauma, mirroring the often non-linear journey of coping with and understanding one’s past.

At the heart of "Evergreen" lies the exploration of my own experiences with trauma, leading to a profound realization: the events that shape us are inescapable, forever lingering in the periphery of our consciousness. The only thing one can do is to accept them. "Evergreen" is a portrayal of the destructive consequences of fleeing from one's past, a cautionary tale of how in escaping who we were, we risk losing who we are.