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Lethe

`'Lethe is a tragic suspense drama about a young amnesiac woman named Eve, who must piece together her fragmented memories while running from mysterious pursuers. Eve is a scared, desperate woman who will do whatever it takes to discover the truth.'

  • Eric Romero
    Director
  • Eric Romero
    Writer
  • Madeleine Drewell
    Producer
  • Kirsty Findlay
    Key Cast
  • Kenny Blyth
    Key Cast
  • Nick Cheales
    Key Cast
  • Kate Potter
    Key Cast
  • Andrew Corelli
    Key Cast
  • Garry Torrance
    DOP
  • Rory Stewart
    FIRST AD
  • Paul Hartmann
    DIRECT SOUND
  • Jo Hill
    Music
  • Pat Jas
    COSTUME DESIGNER
  • Danniella Hay
    MAKE UP
  • Paul Kowalik
    SOUND DESIGNER
  • Gavin Livingstone
    OFFLINE EDITOR
  • Kieran Gosney
    ONLINE EDITOR
  • Gemma Fieller
    Art
  • Lindsay McGee
    CO-PRODUCER
  • Reyhan Bekar
    SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
  • Andrew Mcdonald
    1ST AC
  • Andrew O'Connor
    GAFFER
  • Rasmus Räni
    CAMERA ASSISTANT
  • Rosa Good
    Extra Direct Sound
  • Jonny Magowan
    2ND AD
  • Allegra Stodolsky
    3RD AD
  • Stephen Lamb
    DIT
  • Lucas Kao
    SET PHOTOGRAPHERS
  • Ewan Rollo
    SET PHOTOGRAPHERS
  • Phillip Fitness
    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
  • Eric Romero
    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
  • Stephen White
    Poster Designer
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Drama
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 5, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    4,500 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Royal Television Society of Scotland Student Awards
    Glasgow
    United Kingdom
    Best Drama
  • Royal Television Society of Scotland
    Glasgow
    Best Student Project
  • Kalat Nissa Film Festival
    Caltanisseta
    Italy
    May 26, 2017
    World Premiere
    Best Short Film
  • Alicante Film Festival
    Alicante
    Spain
    May 27, 2017
    Spanish Premiere
  • Bucharest Shortcut Cinefest
    Bucharest
    Romania
    May 28, 2017
Director Biography - Eric Romero

I moved from Barcelona to Edinburgh five years ago and I just graduated from a BA in Television at the Edinburgh Napier University with a First Class, winning a Napier’s university Medal and the Clement's Family Prize for TV production.

Back in Barcelona I worked as a writer for TV, Radio and Theatre and when I moved to UK I decided to start a path towards becoming a writer/director. My first attempt was a mockumentary called “The Arsehole Gene” in 2013, which won some international awards and was nominated to a BAFTA Scotland New Talent award in Comedy.

My second film, another mockumentary called “Native Immigration” was selected by more than twenty festivals around the world and has won several awards like Best Short Film at the U-Special International Campus Film Festival (New Delhi), Best Short Film at the Cinema City Film Festival (Serbia), Best Short Film and Best Director at the Outlaw Film Festival (Missouri), Audience award at the First Friday Film Festival (Kansas), etc.

With my last project I decided to move from comedy towards drama to direct “Lethe”, my most ambitious film. I have great hopes that it will open me doors to new projects.

Nowadays I spend my time working as a carer doing 24 hours shifts and using all my free time to keep working on films until the day comes in which I can afford spending all my time just doing what I love.

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Director Statement

FILM'S INTENTION (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
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PLEASE WATCH THE FILM BEFORE READING THIS STATEMENT
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PLEASE WATCH THE FILM BEFORE READING THIS STATEMENT
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LAST CHANCE TO WATCH THE FILM BEFORE READING SPOILERS
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This film concept came from a combination of my personal experience with a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and my interest in the human brain; how it operates on a physical and psychological level.

However, I didn’t want to make a film about dementia; I don’t want people going to see it knowing it is about Alzheimer. I want them to watch it because they find the premise intriguing and interesting. I want the audience to travel with the main character knowing as much as she knows and seeing the world in the way she sees it, because, then the climax will be as powerful and revealing for them as it is for the main character.

By exploring the subject from the characters point of view the audience can identify more with the situation; I want the audience to identify themselves with the dementia sufferer without knowing the person’s disease until the climax.

As a result, I approached the script as if it were a classic thriller, splashing the different scenes with some of the traits associated with the disease. For example, at the hospital the main protagonist Eve refers to the bedpan as “that plastic thing to pee”, which is an indirect way of speaking; this is common with Alzheimer sufferers as they often are unable to use specific names of objects.

Similarly, Eve finding her car keys in the freezer is not related to somebody mysteriously hiding them there, but it is related to another dementia symptom; the misplacing of objects. Everything strange that happens in the script has a mundane reason as is far from the conspiracies and supernatural phenomena that Eve feels conspires against her.

The script has been heavily revised and researched including the investigation into how music works on a neurological level and can have an impact with dementia sufferers; think of a person with Alzheimer’s not being able to remember his family, but readily remembering a tune and song and performing in front of people with no hesitation. This concept has been linked into the story as a tool in grounding Eve’s character back into reality.

I really believe this short film can be a game changer for my team and I and will lead us to more interesting, challenging and diverse projects in the future.