Film: Unseen Sadness
Director: Jason Impey
Writers: Jason Impey
Actors: Sonia Cheung & Rami Hilmi
Synopsis: A short film looking at the impact of mental health as a hidden disability, particularly ADHD.
In a new exclusive interview leading up to the Southend Film Festival I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Jason Impey a few questions about the short film Unseen Sadness.
Unseen Sadness will be playing at the Southend Film Festival on Saturday 8th June at at 18:30 as part of the Mostly Made in Southend collection of shorts.
Q. Your film Unseen Sadness has been selected to play at the Southend Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect from the film?
A. I am delighted to have my work back again at this wonderful film festival. My short film Unseen Sadness follows on from my previous work last seen at the previous Southend Film Festival – An Autistic Film. Unseen Sadness follows our protagonist as she spirals into a depression being unable to recognise and control her own mental health leading to self-destruction effecting those around her. The film highlights the subtle tell-tale signs of someone struggling to cope.
Q. How did the idea for the film come about and What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. Off the back of my 2 previous films tackling mental health, ‘Just Another Day’ & ‘An Autistic Film’ Sonia reached out to me. She runs a podcast looking at ADHD in adults and talks about her own personal struggles. Together we decided to do an experimental short film using some of her life experiences as the basis of the main script.
Q. What were some of the influences for the look and style of the film?
A. I was going for a subtle calm drama film, using visuals to tell the story rather than dialogue. So, it is kind of silent cinema with a score. I love the film ‘Aftersun’ directed by Charlotte Wells. The deep subtle drama happening throughout the film and the gentle way it is shot works perfect and was a big inspiration for this piece.
Q. Where there any elements of the original script which were adapted during filming?
A. The atmosphere on this film was brilliant. It was a fantastic creative team who all was excited to be on set and play around with things to create a piece of film. Rami Hilmi travelled down to be involved and threw himself into the role. Kieran Johnston was a great hands on dec behind the scenes with my wife Rachel Impey being a great support and keeping the shoot moving. Sonia brought a lot of valuable insight to help develop the characters.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments whilst making the Film?
A. As the film was experimental, I was quite flexible and adapted with each scene to take it in the direction it needed to go to get to the end of the journey I had mapped out and knew I wanted to arrive at.
Q. Did you experience any issues whilst making the film?
A. This is one of the easiest and most pleasant shoots I have ever been on. Everything ran smooth, only thing faced is the same old problem with all budget movies – time. Time just disappears when making films.
Q. What do you hope people will take away from the film
A. I hope this film helps highlight the subtle little signs that someone may not be OK, and maybe struggling and that even if they don’t realise it themselves that they need support to get through what at times can be a tough life.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are working on?
A. I have filmed a feature arthouse film called Existence that I am currently editing. It is very much in the same vein as Koyaanisqatsi Life Out Of Balance.
Q. If someone is looking to direct their first film, what advice would you give them?
A. Don’t be put off by any red tape, and be true to yourself. Film is an art form to express yourself, don’t try and please everyone.
You can find out more about Jason Impey and his projects on the following socials:
Facebook – Instagram – Twitter (X)
You can find out more about the Southend Film Festival on the website
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
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