On The Water
Logline: When her brother goes missing near their family cottage, Cecilia has to hunt for his whereabouts in the slender time between an instinct and a crime.
Synopsis:
Out in the Canadian backcountry, on a big lake that lies along the course of the Madawaska River, there is a summer home whose heyday was in the 1970s. Cecilia and Ethan, the youngest generation to visit, are siblings who have come for one last weekend at the end of the season. Though they are polar opposites, there is a feeling of connection when they spend time together at the lake.
After a small argument on their first day, Ethan goes for a long swim. A strange boat appears and Cecilia watches from the dock while her brother boards and they take off. As the sun starts to set with no sign of Ethan, Cecilia begins tracking him down. She follows every clue that she can think of to no avail. After midnight, as thunderstorms roll in, Cecilia gives up for the night and heads back to the cabin alone. She is shocked when she arrives.
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Karis MalszeckiWriter
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Karis MalszeckiDirector
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Karis MalszeckiProducer
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Kevin GallantProducer
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Samantha LittleProducerNocturne Falls
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Owain ParriProducerAfriKan
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Angela BellKey Cast"Cecilia"Age of the Living Dead, Martyrs - The Chronicles of Blood, Eyes Open, Silent But Deadly
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James ClarkKey Cast"Ethan"
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Psychological thriller, Arthouse, Mystery
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Runtime:15 minutes
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Completion Date:March 20, 2020
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Production Budget:35,500 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:2.39:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Jack Lake Film FestivalApsley, Ontario
Canada
August 25, 2021 -
Blood in the Snow Film FestivalToronto, Canada
Canada
November 3, 2020
Canadian Premiere
Official Selection
Karis Malszecki is a writer and director based in Toronto, Canada. With roots in the indie film scene and credits such as production designer for the feature film Honey Bee (2018) to her name, Karis has been telling stories for over 10 years. In 2018, she co-founded a production company, FWI Media Productions Inc., where she directs and produces commercial, documentary, and fiction for digital. Karis moves between narrative and documentary in her approach to filmmaking, exploring the tenuous relationship between fiction and reality.
Through the medium of docu-fiction, I wanted to capture the emotional essence of generational trauma and the way that a single day can be imprinted on the mind. The cinematography dwells in long takes of the landscape, giving us time to take in the surroundings and hear the ambience. This serenity acts as a temporal escape from the fear of violence and tragedy that Cecilia is going through.
But there is another character with a longer shadow - that of the family cottage itself - a small, dying figure precariously situated on the ancient bedrock of the Canadian Shield. This setting represents a scale at which humans and their fears are but a moment in time. What is the nature of memory, of time, of our relationship to nature, and to each other? – Karis Malszecki