June

The story of "June" comes from a nostalgic longing for my childhood in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Growing up in miles of rural wilderness for 18 years and moving to the vibrant metropolis of Los Angeles was a completely new experience. At times when I felt lost, I often found myself returning to the quiet memories spent in the mountains, where nature and community fostered formative growth and lessons of patience and acceptance. Although I knew how important my home and community was to me, it felt like there was a new distance between the person I used to be, and the person I am today. In ‘June,’ I wanted to explore this relationship between the past and present selves, and better understand this feeling of grievance towards the memories and people we must learn to say goodbye to. Our grieving characters find themselves reflecting on past memories and their own relationship, as change becomes a conflicting factor on their perspectives. What we created in ‘June’ comes from a world of realism and authentic experiences, touching upon tones of melancholy, familiar homely warmth, and honest perspectives of young adulthood.

I was inspired by directors Richard Linklater, Jim Jarmusch, and Jean Luc Godard whose films often don’t need melodramatic conflict or action sequences to be interesting, but rather have realistic characters that drive the narrative. I, too, sought to create characters that would ignite the complex and dynamic emotions in simplistic scenes. I hope that against the dramatic landscapes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the performances from June and Paul, the audience can find a connection to the story and their own lives.