Two Years

With the world in quarantine and global borders closed, "Two Years" is a story of a long-distance couple choosing to celebrate their 2 year anniversary together, 8000 miles apart.

  • Christina Dobre
    Director
  • Christina Dobre
    Writer
  • Christina Dobre
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Johann Beute
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Christina Dobre
    Cinematographer
    Sarah Kinsley's "The King"
  • Johann Beute
    Additional Photography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Romance, Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 21, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    South Africa, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Christina Dobre

Christina Dobre is a freelance cinematographer, filmmaker and educator based in New York City. She began working in film as the Assistant to the Director at age 18 on the set of the feature film, Creedmoria (Dir. Alicia Slimmer), which won Best Narrative Feature (Cinequest Film Festival 2016). Christina is a 2019 film graduate from Fordham University at Lincoln Center. Between studying, she volunteered her time with Film Fatales, a non-profit that advocates for women-identifying directors. Upon graduation from Fordham, she won the prestigious William F. DiPietra Award for Excellence in Film Storytelling and Artistry.

Currently, Christina works in the camera department of NYC’s film scene, in addition to shooting her own projects and educating young filmmakers on TikTok. She most recently shot the music video for singer Sarah Kinsley’s newest single, “The King” which received over 15 million streams. Christina is currently building her body of work as a cinematographer and hopes to inspire younger generations of women filmmakers to tell their stories.

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Director Statement

With the global borders closed around the world in early 2020, long-distance couples were faced with the abrupt reality of being separated from their partners indefinitely. Johann and I were one of those couples. Living 8000 miles away from each other is difficult enough, let alone adding in the uncertainty of a pandemic into the mix. As filmmakers stuck at home, miles away from each other, we wanted to create a film that helped us celebrate our anniversary together, even if that meant just across the screen. Thus, "Two Years" was created out of the desire to cherish these special moments despite the distance and capture the feeling of being separated by a pandemic from the person you love the most.

"Two Years" was filmed in one day, on two separate continents. Johann filmed himself at his home in Cape Town, SA, while I filmed myself at my home in New Jersey, USA. On our anniversary, we edited the sequences together.

In total, Johann and I spent 11 months of 2020 forcibly apart from each other. It was through support from other LDR couples, border updates on Love Is Not Tourism Facebook groups, and the love that we share that we made it through together. My heart goes out to all the couples in long-distance relationships who were and still are separated by global restrictions. May this film bring you hope that one day soon, you will be reconnected with your loved ones, too. Tell your stories!