Private Project

Lighter Shades of Blue

Two Strangers Help Each Other Through A Storm

This awkward comedic drama follows Anya and Mint as they first meet in a haphazard way en route to an exhibition. Absorbed in her music, Anya is nearly hit by a bus, when Mint intervenes. At the gallery, surrounded by art snobs, they avoid each other but eventually end up stuck. They will have to find a way to talk to each other now.

‘Lighter Shades of Blue’ playfully explores the intricate tapestry of human connections and the blurred boundaries between reality and perception.

  • Maria Messias Mendes
    Director
    A Month
  • Maria Messias Mendes
    Writer
    A Month, Leanne
  • Maria Messias Mendes
    Producer
  • Emma Zadow
    Producer
    Jigging (BBC & Screen South), Octopus (BFI & Fig Films), Spiked, My Little Ghost Sofa, Fridge (Hope Theatre), Interrogation (BBC)
  • Thomas Mullen
    Executive Producer
  • Annie Mullen
    Executive Producer
  • Ana Messias
    Executive Producer
  • Afia Abusham
    Key Cast
    "Anya"
    Dirty Boy (Feature Film), Cacoethes (Short), Estella (Theatre6), Uncle Vanya (Harold Pinter Theatre), Anansi the Spider (Unicorn Theatre), Babylon Beyond Borders (Bush Theatre), Apple Tree House (CBBC), Macbeth (Classical Theatre of Harlem).
  • Paul Adeyefa
    Key Cast
    "Mint"
    Ransom (CBS), A Scottish Soldier (BBC), Good Omens 1 & 2 (BBC, Amazon Studios), and Bancroft (ITV studios), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bridge Theatre), Women Beware Women (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) and The Mirror and the Light (Gielgud Theatre)
  • Ikky Kabir
    Key Cast
    "Bruce"
    HATE, The State (Archery Pictures)
  • Rachelle Grubb
    Key Cast
    "Peacock Lady"
    Morning Of., Voices from Home (King's Head Theatre)
  • Edward Watchman
    Key Cast
    "Flatulent Guy"
    Below The Surface, Cliffs (The Other Palace), Fridge (Hope Theatre), Twelfth Night (London Touring Players)
  • Petar Gigov
    Director of Photography
  • Petar Gigov
    Editor
  • Tigere
    Music
    My Little Ghost Sofa, A Month, Leanne, The Washing Line (Chickenshed), Jack! (Chickenshed)
  • Lydia Frost
    1st AD
  • Oscar Fouda
    2nd AD
  • Oscar Fouda
    1st Camera Assistant
  • Tigere
    Sound
    My Little Ghost Sofa, A Month, Leanne, The Washing Line (Chickenshed), Jack! (Chickenshed)
  • Gary Gonzalez Perez
    Sound Recordist
  • Diogo Miranda
    Colourist
  • Theodore Jesson
    Production Assistant
  • Lujine El Husseini
    Hair and Makeup
  • Nicola Irvine
    Photography
  • Giulia Rose
    Art
  • Idil Aydinli
    Art
  • Nataliia Zvirkova
    Art
  • Maria Messias Mendes
    Art
  • Mariia Annenkova
    Gallery Visitors
  • Tunde Kachingwe
    Gallery Visitors
  • Duncan Lawrence
    Gallery Visitors
  • Maureen Lennox
    Gallery Visitors
  • Christian Markham
    Gallery Visitors
  • Johnathan Sparrow
    Gallery Visitors
  • Nataliia Zvirkova
    Gallery Visitors
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Lift-Off Filmmaker Sessions
    Pinewood Studios
    United Kingdom
    Official Selection
  • (Yo)U - International Film Festival
    Rome
    Italy
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Maria Messias Mendes

Maria Messias Mendes is a Portuguese-Zimbabwean-German writer, director and artist living in London.
Her work has been published in Streetcake Magazine, Tint Magazine and The Cavendish Chronicle. Her 2022 short film ‘A Month’ was longlisted for the ODEON National Youth Film Awards. 2023 short film ‘Leanne’ has won multiple awards. Messias Mendes just completed a Masters in Writing for Performance at the University of Cambridge, having previously completed a Bachelor with Honours in English with Creative Writing at Queen Mary University of London. She is an alumni of the Mercury Theatre Playwrights Programme and the Cambridge Junction Writers Lab.

She is particularly interested in work that opens conversations that cross boarders. Having come from a migrant family and being a migrant herself, the meeting of cultures has been central to her experience and survival. Therefore, for her, an urgent question is how we tell stories that cross boundaries, languages, forms and genres to better reflect complex realities and identities.

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Director Statement

This story addresses the often-overlooked aspects of human connection. The film illuminates the various ways we connect with others, exploring the inherent nature and sometimes absurdity of these connections, as well as how we construct ideas and narratives about people in our minds. Ultimately, 'Lighter Shades of Blue' poses the question, "What brings us together?" all while aiming to bring laughter and smiles to our audience.