Heart or Mind
Short Film
Logline:
As the restrictions on foreign travel tighten due to the pandemic, international student Flora must decide whether she wants to travel home to Italy to be with her ailing parents, or continue her studies in the United States alongside her boyfriend.
Director’s Statement
I wrote and directed "Heart or Mind" after experiencing the travel restrictions firsthand as an international student myself. In the film, Flora faces a similar situation as I did. Her mother in Italy is about to undergo surgery, and her grandparents are elderly. All this and during a once-in-a-century pandemic. She wants to go back, but if she does so, she won't be able to return to the U.S. and finish her studies. The film asks Flora to follow her heart and go back to her family or her Mind to stay in the U.S. until the end of her studies.
The 4:3 aspect ratio I chose was to constrict Flora's world and give the viewer a sensation of claustrophobia. The colors red and blue are recurring in the movie as a symbol of Flora's two paths in front of her. The two colors also symbolize the difference between the two countries and cultures and the difference between her personality and her boyfriend, Leo’s. My crew and I faced enormous and uncertain challenges making this film. We were required to follow the safety restrictions to do the project during a pandemic. No one outside my household could participate, with my roommates making up the whole cast and crew. Samuel Gill and Addison Billingsley, cinematographer and producer, respectively, were behind computers watching through a zoom call. We supported each other through the whole production, and I am immensely proud of the resulting film.
Awards
