Short Film Screening
Grant awarded to: Lowri Palfrey
Ymddiried’s Contribution: £1,800
After becoming a mother in 2019 work as an actor had been put on hold and then extended due to lockdown. I was desperate to be creative and work, but with no sign of any auditions I took to writing something that I could be in. Two years later, Hêri, a short film about a stressed mother with two small children who receives a visit from a rather large, hairy childhood friend who helps her get her life back together was complete. Although filming had wrapped in 2021, it took a further two years to finish the edit, sound mix and colour grade due to working on little to no budget. But we had done it! Now what?
Cut to April 2024, my co-producer & I are boarding a plane to San Francisco to attend the Poppy Jasper Film Festival where Hêri is being screened. We arrived at Gilroy mid-afternoon where we stayed with a host family associated with the film festival. We enjoyed some dinner with them before heading off to our first festival event, the Poppy Bash. The evening was a celebration of film and music at the Capos Event Centre. We were also thrilled to see that Hêri was part of the teaser trailer for the festival, out of the 200 films that had been selected.
The following morning, we attended the Mimosa Brunch hosted by the festival on a local vineyard. That afternoon we were able to attend the screening of our short film at The Barn at Mission Farm, San Juan Batista. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the other selected films in our screening slot and were called to do an impromptu Q&A at the end. A personal highlight was when I was approached by two older ladies who had enjoyed the film and said how they could relate to the story from their own experiences of motherhood. That really meant the world to know that something I had created was resonating with women from an entirely different age and continent.
I cannot begin to thank Ymddiried enough for making this possible, it’s an experience that I will cherish forever. Diolch!