Script File

Illuminated by Stars

Set in New Mexico, a rogue biologist picks up a hitchhiker who is struggling with her mid-life crisis. From Berlin, Sunna is seeking to learn from a Native American Shaman, who she hopes will guide her on her spirit quest. As part of her research on empathy in the world, Bia is engaged in an intense research project: transforming men into women by way of a magic revolver. Things happen, and their experience together evolves into a more compelling experiment that can change the world.

  • Sam Samore
    Writer
    Dead in Paris, 2024
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Number of Pages:
    90
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • "Dead in Paris" ; Berlin International Art Film Festival
    Berlin, Germany
    October 5, 2021
    Best Unproduced Screenplay
Writer Biography - Sam Samore

I have written four published collections of fairytales. I’ve also exhibited paintings, photographs, and installations around the world in museums, galleries and Biennales. Besides many shorts, I have written and directed two feature length “artist films”: Hallucinations/Paradise, 2010 and Mirror of Happiness, 2022. I received a BA in Film /Television at San Francisco State University, and a MFA from the University of New Mexico.

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Writer Statement

We have secured the agreement of Katja Riemann to play the part of Sunna in this film. Our philosophy is to follow ideas from the Theatre of the Absurd - celebrating the sensibility of such writers as Gertrude Stein and the stream of consciousness narratives of James Joyce. In cinema “Illuminated by Stars” continues in the footsteps of the pioneer Luis Buñuel. Recent examples of Magic Realism would include “Dogtooth” by Yorgos Lanthimos, as well as the work of Brit Marling.