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Two Women on a Bridge

Early May, 2020: After seeing their friends for the first time during the quarantine, two women walk home late at night across the Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn.

  • Tom Bean
    Director
    Landline, Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself
  • Tom Bean
    Writer
    Landline, Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself
  • Suzanne Lenz
    Producer
    Silicon Valley, Obvious Child
  • Suzanne Lenz
    Key Cast
    "Sam"
    Silicon Valley, Obvious Child
  • Karen Maine
    Key Cast
    "Katie"
    Yes, God, Yes, Obvious Child
  • Katherine Castro
    Director of Photography
    Dawn, When We Grow Up, The Dogfriend
  • Chris Bordeaux
    Original Score
    Obvious Child, Landline
  • Michael Abiuso
    Original Score
    Christmas Eve Eve Or: The Things I Can't Remember
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Sony FS7
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:1.85
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tom Bean

Tom Bean is a filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in Brooklyn, NY. He recently worked as a creative consultant on the documentaries Any One of Us, The Alpinist, and Dear Rider for Red Bull Media and HBO. Previously, he co-directed and produced the feature-length documentary Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself, and he collaborated with director Gillian Robespierre on her film Landline, which premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. He co-created the ongoing short film series My First Time for literary magazine The Paris Review, which features interviews with well-known writers about their first published work. This year, he collaborated on the short films Two Women on a Bridge, Christmas Eve Eve: Or the Things I Can't Remember, and I’m on Fire. Tom also produces documentary content for progressive organizations like The Center for Constitutional Rights and The National Network for Safe Communities.

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Director Statement

Two Women on a Bridge is a collaborative effort between four filmmakers shot during the frightening early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. One night, the four of us walked across the Williamsburg Bridge with a camera, crafting a simple story that would unfold in an experimental frame: two women walk home across the bridge after having seen friends for the first time since the quarantine began, as we hear their tumultuous inner thoughts unfold in voiceover. As they make their way across the bridge, we see them wrestle with their private fears and struggles and grief—as well as their new and legitimate anxiety about being out in the world, about being with other people, even people they love. Although the subject matter is deeply serious, we sought to employ a style that could also be fun- even playful- in the spirit of the inventive cinematic experiments of Francois Truffaut or Wong Kar-wai. The film seeks to show the profound uncertainty of this now-indelible period, but it culminates in a simple, tender gesture—a pro-human moment that we hope will resonate with viewers regardless of where they might have been during the early days of their pandemic. By dramatizing our own experience, we set out to make a film that was particular and specific, but one that we hope can also speak to a universal need for companionship and connection. The pandemic is, after all, something that happened to all of us.

-Tom Bean