Supine

Sylvie is a taxidermist content with being isolated from people in her large house in the mountains of France- her only company is her work. That is until Oz, an American hitchhiker stumbles upon her path. The two become close and Sylvie begins to question what it means to live.

  • Nicole Goode
    Director
  • Nicole Goode
    Writer
  • Steve Reverand
    Producer
  • Martin Raiman
    Producer
  • Eva Larvoire
    Key Cast
  • Nathan Davies
    Key Cast
  • Guillaume Cochard-Lemoine
    Original Music
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Horror, Thriller, Drama
  • Runtime:
    25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Czech Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Czech Republic
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Alexa 2K ProRes
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival
    Bucheon
    Korea, Republic of
    July 15, 2018
    World Premiere
    Fantastic Shorts
  • Women In Horror Film Festival
    Atlanta, GA
    United States
    October 5, 2018
    North American Premiere
    International Shorts Selection
  • Fractured Visions
    Cardiff, Wales
    United Kingdom
    September 29, 2018
    European Premiere
    Short Film Competition
  • Aesthetica Short Film Festival
    York
    United Kingdom
    November 7, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Independent Horror Movie Awards

    Best Short Winner, Best Director Winner, Best Cinematography Winner
  • Genre Celebration Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    Best Horror Short Winner
  • Anatomy Crime & Horror International Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    November 3, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Terror in the Bay Horror Film Festival
    Thunder Bay
    Canada
    October 19, 2018
    Canadian Premiere
    Best Featurette Award Winner
  • Manitic - Manises International Fantastic Film Festival
    València
    Spain
    November 22, 2018
    Official Selection / Best Actress
  • Rendezvous ScareFest
    Amelia Island
    United States
    November 2, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    November 24, 2018
    Toronto Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Medusa Underground Film Fest
    Las Vegas, NV
    United States
    January 13, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Splat!FilmFest
    Lublin
    Poland
    November 27, 2018
    Official Selection
  • CRASH – 10º Mostra Internacional de Cinema Fantástico
    Goiânia, Goiás
    Brazil
    Official Selection
  • South West London International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    November 24, 2018
  • Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Horror Film Festival
    Buenos Aires
    Argentina
    December 3, 2018
    South American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • That Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    February 9, 2019
    Berlin Finalist
  • Final Girls Berlin Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    January 31, 2019
  • Landshut Short Film Festival
    Landshut
    Germany
    March 22, 2019
    International Competition
  • Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival

    United States
    April 4, 2019
    Best Cinematography Winner
  • Madeira Fantastic Film Fest
    Madeira
    Portugal
    March 12, 2019
  • Aurora Festival International de Cine de Horror
    Guanajuato
    Mexico
    February 25, 2019
  • Beeston Film Festival
    Beeston
    United Kingdom
    March 13, 2019
    Best Horror Nominee
Director Biography - Nicole Goode

Nicole Goode is a filmmaker and artist from Toronto, Canada. She completed her B.F.A. in Drawing and Painting at OCAD University focusing her thesis on experimental animation, which was exhibited in Europe and Canada. Since graduating, she has transitioned into the film making world by writing and directing short films and music videos. She has also worked as the Director of Photography and colourist on a feature film shot in Iceland. Nicole is currently developing her first feature film.

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Director Statement

At one point in my life I decided to create a stop motion short film with grotesque puppet creatures inspired by the works of the Brother’s Grimm. I designed them, my friend built them. The collaboration ended when I had to lock myself in a dark room to actually animate the film. Spending 12 plus hours a day with these monstrosities as my only company ended up giving me some strange form of cabin fever. Whenever I had something to say, I would say it to them. It started small, but eventually I was speaking to them as if they were people. It both filled the silence and gave me some sense of company as I slaved over the film. It all seemed very natural until I stepped back and started to interact with real human beings again. I realized I may have gone a little too far with that project...

I think that’s where the idea of Supine began. People naturally anthropomorphize objects and animals all the time, It’s a way of explaining the behaviors of things that either do not feel as we do, or do not feel at all. Anthropomorphism exists in this sense, but it is also a natural way to cope with loneliness.

The character of Sylvie was created from that idea. I wanted to explore not just how a character copes with loneliness, but how they interact with people after being isolated for a long time. Sylvie is a taxidermist living in the mountains of France with her only company being her work. Taxidermy to Sylvie isn’t hunting and mounting heads on the wall as decoration, for her it’s a way of healing an animal that is beyond repair. She finds animals who have been killed on the road and fixes them up, in a way she’s giving them a second chance.

Using found animals for taxidermy has recently become a popular art form known as “rogue taxidermy”. The art of rogue taxidermy is one that is mostly comprised of women. It is driven by the principle of using ethical sources, meaning the animals are not killed to be made into art, but are found already dead. Sometimes they are even combined with other materials such as metal, wood, sculptures, or even other animals to fill in their - for lack of a more eloquent description - missing parts... The work is both poetic and disturbing, which are two notes I wanted to hit with Supine.

To some degree Supine is a fairytale. It began for me with grotesque puppets in a small dark room that were inspired by the works of the Brothers Grimm and evolved into a story of a woman who copes with her loneliness through healing - however unorthodox her methods may be. I wanted to keep that feeling you get from reading a Grimm’s fairy tale as a child, that sense that the happy story you knew might actually not end in happily ever after.

Nicole Goode