meditations

A woman tells her boyfriend about her day. Overwhelmed by the chaos of the 25 de Março street, she stopped at a tarot reader who told her: imagine a forest. This simple meditative exercise leads her to deeply reflect on her desires. But her boyfriend shows no interest in her experience, which makes her doubt the reciprocity of their bond. Gradually, she realizes that in this relationship, she exists only to fulfill his desire. And that is no longer enough for her.

  • Dani Seabra
    Director
  • Dani Seabra
    Writer
  • Karen Gronich
    Producer
  • Beatriz Barros
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    meditações
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 BRL
  • Country of Origin:
    Brazil
  • Country of Filming:
    Brazil
  • Language:
    Portuguese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Dani Seabra

Dani Seabra is a brazilian director, writer, assistant director and editor. With a degree in Film from the Univerity of São Paulo (USP), she has worked as an assistant director for 10 years and as an editor for 5. She directed two short films, A Nau dos Loucos (2014) and Serenata (2016), which were selected in brazilian and international festivals. Meditations (2024) is her third short film as a director and her first as a writer.

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Director Statement

Imagine a forest.

Place yourself in that forest and keep your mind there.

This meditative exercise meant to calm the mind takes the protagonist on a restless journey of self-discovery. She leaves the sun-drenched chaos of 25 de Março street and places herself in a gloomy forest. This mysterious and symbolic place references the Moon tarot card. This is the card of imagination, distorted by the translation of our internal experiences to the outside world, just as the moon distorts the light coming from the sun. The card depicts a dog, a wolf and a crayfish looking at the moon. They represent our primal self, the part that exists beyond societal mediation. It's a place of liberation from the bonds of language. To get there, a long and vaginal path was taken through a deep forest that can be seen in the background of the card. This journey was guided by the Hermit, another tarot figure, representing introspection and analysis. She follows this path and finds the Moon. She touches the moon, dances with the moon, and sees herself in the moonlight.

Yet, at the peak of her self-exploration, a thought interrupts her: she thinks of her boyfriend and wonders what he would think of her reflections. Even in her most intimate thoughts, she is mediated by the presence of a partner who shows no interest in her experiences. As she contemplates her mental journey, she realizes the full extent of the restrictions her relationship has imposed on her life. She understands that in this relationship, there is no space for her to exist freely.

Subconsciously, I drew much inspiration from Maya Deren’s films and her concept of "creative geography." I applied this idea by weaving together the various places she passed through during her meditation, exploring different spaces and times where she has existed and still exists. This dissociation of space and time interests me because it can be interpreted as the character’s insecurity about where and when she truly exists, but it also signals a self-analysis that grants her the power to decide her place in the world.

This film was entirely self-financed by me and relied on the collaboration of the whole team to create something meaningful for everyone. Since graduating from university, I hadn’t had opportunities to take on creative roles in film productions. Thanks to luck, partnerships and a lot of work, we finally produced this short film with our own hands.