Private Project

No Taming of Night

In Alaska during the season of the midnight-sun, the fates of two families and a young loner intertwine following a desperate act of violence.

  • Cody Oka Alan
    Director
  • Cody Oka Alan
    Writer
  • Jordan Anderson
    Producer
  • James Hastings
    Producer
  • Cody Oka Alan
    Producer
  • Anthony Goertz
    Key Cast
    "Driver"
  • Craig Sorensen
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Easton Sorensen
    Key Cast
    "Son"
  • Elyse Eichmuller
    Key Cast
    "Mother"
  • Jordan Anderson
    Director of Photography
  • Tony Kinash
    First AD / Additional Photography
  • Hugh Mitchell
    Sound
  • Cold Dead Drummers
    Composer
    The Line (Documentary Film)
  • Cody Oka Alan
    Editor
  • Sheldon Anders
    Props
  • June Blair
    Script Consultation / Special FX
  • Andreas Eichmuller
    Drone Photography
  • Jaden Mccormack
    Production Assistance
  • James Hastings
    Key Grip / Behind the Scenes
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Psychological, Crime, Drama
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes 13 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Edmonton International Film Festival
    Edmonton
    Canada
    October 2, 2021
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Odyssey Film Fest

    United States
    November 12, 2021
    3rd Place in Short Films
  • Paus Premieres Festival

    United Kingdom
    October 4, 2021
    European Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Cody Oka Alan

I am a California-born, Texas-raised writer/director/composer based in Edmonton, Alberta. A childhood full of my father's film-set stories, as well as a passion for acting, primed me to break into film and television in my adulthood.

After a few brief acting roles in local Canadian productions, I turned my attention to composing music for film, working on select short films and documentaries, including the award-winning documentary 'The Line', directed by Anthony Goertz.

After winning the Best Adjudication Award for 'Tether'— a short I wrote and starred in at the Edmonton Short Film Festival, I set my sights on writing and directing my own projects.

I am most concerned with stories surrounding the human condition, our strange relationship with nature, and the limits of mortality. Some of my film influences include Paul Thomas Anderson, David Lowery, Lynne Ramsay, David Michôd, Darren Aronofsky, Nicolas Winding Refn, John Cassavetes, Andrew Dominik, David Mackenzie, Alex Garland and David Lynch.

I mix wine with vodka, write only under cover of night, and wax nostalgic to Jan de Bont's 'Twister.'

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Director Statement

In each of us, there are parts of ourselves we neglect: wounds we don't air, sins we purge from the light. In our desperation, our pain, or our hubris?— we separate mind from body, give in to our most wicked temptations, or let our desperation get the best of our better nature.

It was this aspect of the human condition I set out to explore in my first very personal, very allegorical short. NO TAMING OF NIGHT is my own personal exploration during one of the worst times in my life where MUCH was at stake.

While writing a number of micro-short films for a special screenwriting competition, I became enamored with the idea (perhaps subconsciously) of a man on the run; a film shot almost exclusively in a car. The concept of a man unhinged and ranting on the road became (ostensibly and metaphorically) a vehicle for the descent into the psyche. "People, while driving, are in a most unique vacuum", I thought. "You talk to yourself in a more self-referential way. There's no need for a filter." I wrote a two-page treatment on the idea and promptly forgot about it.

After catching up with friend and collaborator Jordan Anderson (who eventually became the projects Director of Photography) we got to talking about projects on which we could collaborate. When the subject of the treatment (titled RARE ANIMALS at the time) came up, a couple drafts were all it took to send us off.

I wrote the script in a very feverish stream-of-consciousness, and sought out actors who could embody a sort of otherworldly shock, a distinct humanity. We chose Anthony because of his unique voice, the physicality he brought to the audition and his keen sense of duty to the role.

The choice of aspect ratio and colour were meant to work in-tandem: the almost antique 4:3 aspect ratio to confine Driver, with the black-and-white to lock him away from the colorful world around him. Stylistically, we wanted to represent the character of Driver as separate from the world around him; an almost self-imposed alienation. The moves of the camera, the natural lighting, the dark ambience of the musical cues: all of it meant to immerse into this manic trip.

Working with Anthony, as well as my small dedicated crew, made the entire experience rewarding, and pushed the more subliminal aspects of the writing to the forefront of the picture. Everything I had written in a haze had suddenly become corporeal; the entire experience had become one great catharsis.