Experiencing Interruptions?

Saint Bernard

After playing backgammon together online for over a year, Bernard has a first date in his sauna with Sadie "IRL" tonight. When Bernard's mistress AND wife interrupt their date, everybody finds out a little more than they expected about each another. Typical of a modern day middle aged small town hook-up.

  • Luke Sargent
    Director
    The Love Songs of Oedipus Rex
  • Kevin Kincaid
    Key Cast
    "Bernard"
    Red Light (TIFF 2023)
  • Tara Nicodemo
    Key Cast
    "Sadie"
    Station Eleven, Start Trek
  • Kelly Fanson
    Key Cast
  • Lauren Piech
    Key Cast
  • Bruce McDonald
    Executive Producer
    Dreamland, Pontypool
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Romance, Comedy, drama
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 3, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K, Anamorphic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Luke Sargent

LUKE SARGENT - DIRECTOR BIO

Luke Sargent is a Canadian Film and TV Editor from a small coastal town, living in the big city. He attended the Canadian Film Centre’s Film Lab in 2011, and shortly after directed a stop-animated short, Concrete Reverie (2012), winning the Special Jury prize at the Toronto Underground FF.

Since then, he has continued to direct short films: Saint Bernard (2023), Out Of The Hands of The Wicked (2023), The Love Songs of Oedipus Rex (2018), as well as produce & edit the shorts Purl (2017), Withheld (2015), and the stop-animations Mia (2015) and Indigo (2014), both of which went to TIFF’s official competition in those years.

Luke continues to write and direct projects close to his heart, while editing world class television on the side.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is a movie about how we come to terms with the lies that we tell ourselves, as age breeds hypocrisy in us all.

This film came together quickly and on a tiny budget, with a lot of help from some terrific people.

As soon as I'd written the third draft, I began to think of Kevin Kincaid as Bernard, and asked my wife who she thought would be good for the role. She said "What about Kincaid?" I phoned him up the next day, and he answered "I haven't heard from you since TIFF, is this an intervention??" His dedication to the spirit of the shoot was contagious, and helped cement our production unit throughout a very breakneck paced schedule, while shooting on very cold set.

Actor Tara Nicodemo, who plays Sadie, is probably telepathic, and I'm not saying this because she's on Star Trek either. From her first reading she was completely on the same page as I was when writing Sadie. When we first spoke, I secretly hoped she would consider doing a Quebecois accent for the role, and she of course suggested it before I got up the courage to ask. It's no wonder Rolling Stone selected Tara's episode of HBO's Station Eleven as one of 2022's top twenty episodes of TV for that year.

Director of Photography Ian Macmillan was instrumental in capturing Saint Bernard under some near-impossible circumstances: the set is a 7'x9' sauna without power, the story takes place at night, but the schedule only allowed for daytime shooting, and of course there was no budget to speak of. Ian surmounted all of this and more without batting an eye, delivering an image that looks so good - you can't believe his crew was only two people plus "hands" from the hapless director. Maybe that's just a day in the life of a genius with so much hustle it makes everybody around himself look good too.

Writing and Directing mentorship from Bruce McDonald were crucial for setting the tone and scope of the piece. His experience has been a resource that I couldn't have survived without.
As the team came together to build this wonderfully contained film in a tiny location over two days, we reached a point of liftoff creatively, keeping the pressure high, yet saving drama for the screen.

The result of all of this is a surprising and quirky comedic short that a director friend has likened to a Neil Simon piece. I don't know about all that, but I've still decided to share it here, just in case he's right.

I hope you enjoy!