Private Project

Sofa Surfer

Rob is a sofa surfer roaming the streets while making phone calls to find a place for the night. As everybody turns him down, there is a name he hesitates to call. Carl, an old buddy, offers him a bed in his rundown apartment, only to tempt him back into a past addiction.

  • Michele Olivieri
    Director
    The Game of the Clock
  • Kim Taylor
    Writer
    Eddie Elise
  • Michele Olivieri
    Producer
  • Tom Dayton
    Key Cast
  • James Campbell-Warner
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Michele Olivieri

Michele Olivieri is a non-binary film director from Verona, Italy, now based in London. He began directing in 2017 for the comedy short "Butterflies", which was followed by successful "The Game of The Clock", a horror short film that entered many festivals around the world including top-of-genre FRIGHTFEST. The independent short drama "Sofa Surfer” is the most recent addition to the director’s filmography, released in July 2022

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Director Statement

Even though I never experienced drug addiction or homelessness personally, when I first read the script of Sofa Surfer, Rob’s life resonated with me. I know what it means to feel lost and how hard one must fight for one’s own sanity. We often don’t realise how fragile the balance we live in really is and how easy it can be to give in to destructive temptations.

Rob is a sofa surfer and a recovering addict. In the past, he made many wrong choices, but now he tries to get his life back on track. Picking yourself up after addiction is no mean feat and Rob, like anyone who sets this goal for themselves, is a hero.

His journey takes place mostly outdoors, in a world of blue and green, where we don’t see any face but his. We do sense, however, the presence of insistent cars, trains and aeroplanes, which all seem to have a destination. This is to underline Rob’s condition of being lost and aimless.
Rob’s temptation is conveyed through a dream sequence where the display of contradictory images will pose the question of what is real and what isn’t. The increase in shock and anxiety is dramatised by rotating lights and extreme close-ups, while the editing is meant to heighten the feelings of confusion and dreaminess.

Amongst the many sources of inspiration for this film, worthy of mention are the works of Clouzot, Aronofsky, Wong Kar-Wai and especially Kieślowski.