Grocery Store Flowers

A writer questioning his future with his boyfriend runs into an old acquaintance, leading the pair to reevaluate their expressions of love.

  • Alexander Elmore
    Director
    "Tipsy Talk: Thirty-Something"
  • Alexander Elmore
    Writer
    "Tipsy Talk: Thirty-Something"
  • Joana Gomez
    Producer
    "Thicker Than Water", "The Twisted Three", "Mute"
  • Ruthie Pfeiffer
    Key Cast
    "Julianne"
  • Ari Groobman
    Key Cast
    "Nathan"
  • David Boncyk
    Key Cast
    "Lance"
  • Ariana Maria Muniz
    Cinematographer
    "Tipsy Talk: A Time and Place to Twerk", "The Countdown", "A Ghost, A Vampire, and a Frat Boy..."
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Romance
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 29 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 12, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Colorado Denver
Director Biography - Alexander Elmore

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Alexander moved to Denver to study film and television in college. He received his BFA from the University of Colorado Denver in August 2021. The son of an art teacher and a librarian, he is interested primarily in contemporary fiction and exploring the effects of time on relationships and feelings.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

During my sophomore year of college, I received news that one of my favorite grade school teachers had passed away unexpectedly at the age of 69. Though I was immediately saddened to learn this, and was unable to travel home to attend the funeral, as the weeks and months passed, I kept thinking of her. She'd had a much larger impact on my life than I had ever considered. Of course she taught me how to think critically and embrace my artistic side, but she was something of a role model to me, as I learned in high school that she was queer and lived with her longtime partner. As a way to process all this, I began to write a script in which I could talk to her partner, who I'd only every met once briefly in real life, and explain just what the teacher had meant to me. I used the script as an episode of an anthology series about love I had created, but never produced. Eventually I realized I cared too much about this story to let it go unmade, so I turned that script into my senior thesis and made "Grocery Store Flowers."

While making the film, I learned a lot about crafting character arcs and dealing with externalizing internal conflict. I pushed myself to step away from the exact truth of what I'd experienced and invent; let myself expand creatively. Working with Ruthie Pfeiffer was the greatest pleasure of the entire experience. She was perfect for the role of Julianne, and not only nurtured the film through all of its flaws, but truly believed and deeply understood what I wanted to say, sometime before I even realized it.

With "Grocery Store Flowers," I wanted to create a film about how hard it can be to make someone feel loved, or even allow yourself to love someone else.