Experiencing Interruptions?

TURN ON

Trapped inside her decrepit home and city, Mona is demoralized by the sight of her worn-down parents.
She ventures through trash filled alleys to attend a mysterious party. But she cannot escape thoughts of her family, and her desire to share a moment of joy with them

  • Celine Layous
    Director
    Last Nights of Beirut
  • Quinn Else
    Director
    Fort Irwin, UFO Days
  • Celine Layous
    Writer
    Last Nights of Beirut
  • Erin Gilchrist
    Producer
  • Froso Tsipopoulou
    Producer
  • Ydalie Turk
    Key Cast
    "Mona"
  • Michelle Holmes
    Key Cast
    "Mom"
  • Mark Wind
    Key Cast
    "Dad"
  • Celine Layous
    Cinematographer
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Student, Other
  • Genres:
    Drama, Psychedelic
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    35mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Celine Layous, Quinn Else

Celine Layous | Writer, Director and Cinematographer

Celine Layous is a Cinematographer from Lebanon. She is a graduate of USJ-Institut d’Etudes Sceniques et Audiovisuelles in Beirut, with a BA in Performing Arts. She has recently completed her Cinematography MFA at the American Film Institute Conservatory. Since 2012, she worked as a cinematographer and camera operator on various formats in the MENA region. Celine is now based in Los Angeles and continues to build her career in the visual arts.

Quinn Else | Director

Quinn Else is a Director and VFX Artist raised in the California sprawl. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the world renowned AFI Conservatory. Skilled in image compositing, Quinn's films move between narrative and documentary with subtle visual effects. Drawn to stories about unassuming people who are reshaped by
sublime or uncanny events. Quinn’s short films have played at dozens of film festivals, including AFI Fest and Fantastic Fest.

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Director Statement

“Home is not where you are born;
home is where all your attempts to escape cease”
― Naguib Mahfouz

It has become a rite of passage for the post-war generation of Lebanon to consider leaving the country in search of a better life. Many did leave, I am on of them.
I know very well that feeling of collective despair, that stubborn belief that the reality will never change. Intriguingly, this same despair has bred a sense of solidarity, a collective desire to escape.
TURN ON is a reflection on my last two years-leaving Lebanon and the joys and fears that come with that journey. They say you cannot hate Beirut, unless you love it first. I’ve fallen in and out of love with that city - as a resident and expat - more times than I should.
This film is dedicated to my family and friends who chose to stay. It is a visual essay on my longing to reconnect with my community but also a gratefulness to be far away from it.

― Celine Layous

The United States is an isolated place. This geographic, social and political isolation leads us to not truly pay attention to other countries’ hopes and fears.

While Turn On takes the negative ecological and economic realities of Lebanon and reimagines them in the West, it also tries to capture a type of community that does not exist in America. Escapism for young people in the United States is a solitary thing they do on the internet, it is not a communal gathering. The era of collective experience in the United States passed a long time ago.
When I visited Lebanon I felt a part of something bigger, even if it was just a way for young people to forget about suffering. It was a type of group connectivity that was inspiring.

—Quinn Else