The Mystic Sailor

Sailing through life is the philosophy of this actor/empath/cameraman. Only near the sea does he feel completely free. By aligning with nature, he can fathom his own nature.

  • Deirdre Towers
    Director
    La Chana, Producer
  • Deirdre Towers
    Writer
  • Yaffa Choi
    Producer
  • Sung Lee
    Key Cast
  • Erika Dirscoll
    Key Cast
  • Paul Jared Newman
    Music
  • Nan Melville
    Cinematography
  • Sehee Lee
    Cinematography
  • Rex Benincasa
    Supporting Musicians
  • Jay Rodriguez
    Supporting Musicians
  • Mark Holen
    Supporting Musicians
  • Shining Sea @New York City
    Production
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 23, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Hollywood Gold Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Silver Award
  • Paris International Short Festival
    Paris
    France
    Finalist
  • Toronto Independent Film Festival of Cift
    Toronto
    Canada
    Semi-Finalist
  • Tokyo Shorts
    Tokyo
    Japan
    Semi-Finalist
  • Kansas Arthouse Festival
    Kansas
    United States
    Semi-Finalist
Director Biography - Deirdre Towers

Deirdre Towers, director/editor of THE MYSTIC SAILOR, produced the award winning LA CHANA which was one of 5 documentaries nominated for the European Film Awards, and the winner of the Grand Prix at Festival International of Films on Art in Montreal.

Her 30 short films have been shown in: Chicago Dance for the Camera: R.E.M.; Dreamscapes, NJ State Film Festival; Dance Camera Istanbul ; LOIKKA Festival, Finland; SENE, Rhode Island; International Video Danse Festival de Burgundy (France); La Grande Côte en Solitaire, Lyon, France; Festival Iberia Contemporanea, Queretaro, Mexico; Festival of Choreography Burgos-NY (Spain); Big Screen Project, NYC (three months); D-CAF, Cairo, Egypt; MIMMA, Elche, Spain, Edinburgh (Dance: Film), Amsterdam (Cinedans); Seoul, Korea: Medellin, Colombia (United Nations Human Settlements); NYC (Harlem Film Festival) & (Bronx World Film Festival), Rio de Janeiro (Danca Em Foco).

She was the production assistant on three piano documentaries produced by Peter Rosen, a dancer in the 1996 feature film THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES, starring Barbra Streisand, and an editor of American Ballet Theatre’s MAKE A BALLET educational videos. She produced and curated the Dance On Camera Festival, co-produced by Film at Lincoln Center 1996-20212.

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Director Statement

by Deirdre Towers

Having grown up sailing and then spent my adult life Involved with dance and film, I feel that water is the best dancer.
The sea never ceases to amaze me, with all its rhythms, transformations, and moods.
When I met Sung Lee, he seemed like a fish out of water. The Mystic Sailor reveals the story of one particular man and his essential nature, running parallel, until they merge as one.