(In the upcoming weeks, we’ll be highlighting other INTERPRETATIONS entries that caught the jurors’ eyes but didn’t make it to the final five. But each day this week, we’ll spotlight the five winning finalists in their own words, followed by a few words about their films from a few of the jurors. Next up, Aldous Davidson.)

ALDOUS

Aldous Davidson is an NYU film graduate who has been acting and directing for the past 10 years. He has numerous short films and comedy sketches under his belt, some of which can be seen on his website. Besides filmmaking, some of his interests include chess, scrabble, and freestyle rapping. He is also a member of the hip hop / rock fusion band, ESP. See Aldous’ INTERPRETATIONS profile page here.

Re-watching my Interpretation film, I’m pretty stunned by how personal of a film it turned out to be. I never planned it to have deep meaning but it’s there and pretty evident now, at least to me. A therapist friend of mine told me that my subconscious made this film and it’s a statement I agree with. A lot of folks might not see all the personal meaning in my piece so I’ll try to explain.

The film is really about the deceased woman in the bathtub. She died while giving birth to the two young men. In real life, my mother is not deceased but left my family when I was very young. Our current relationship is very strained and borders on non-existent – something I struggle with every day. In the film, the clearest character arc is hers and she is the character I most sympathize with. Trapped in limbo, she finally gets to meet her son after decades in the afterlife. At first she is overjoyed – he is someone she has yearned to see for so long and still feels connected to (hence the umbilical cord). She touches his face, and then touches her own. She sees the similarities and is filled with joy. However, she soon becomes angry and resentful and pulls away. She realizes his birth is responsible for her own life ending – a life that had quite a bit of promise. This is not unlike my own mother, who had to give up quite a bit upon marrying my father and giving birth to me and like the character in the film, decided to pull away.

I often think about what my existence meant to my mother, an Asian woman who married a Caucasian man, had his child and then left both of them behind. My assumption is that she felt torn from her Asian culture and roots (my father had moved her and I to the Midwest because of a job; most of her family was on the west coast), so she fled back to where she felt most comfortable and connected. I try not to blame her or be angry but it is hard; most of all I try to understand where she is coming from. My film is a way of trying to work toward that understanding. My therapist friend points out things like the bathtub full of water being a metaphor for birth, the blood being a metaphor for violence, the claustrophobic shots being a metaphor for how trapped I feel by the whole situation. She tells me it is one of my most personal pieces. I agree with her but never really noticed all the intricate details until now. Subconscious film making, I guess.

Making this film has been a catharsis of sorts and I’m grateful for the chance to have made it and been recognized for it. I think the reason my film was so successful in the contest is due to how personal a story it is. Early drafts had wild, nonsensical, alien-like imagery on the “other side” and I could have made that film but it was unmotivated. It would not have been nearly as successful a story and I doubt I would have been chosen as a finalist had that been the case. In the end, the film did its job on a personal level and I’m extraordinarily glad I made it, contest withstanding. It allowed me to express a personal story which (I realize now) I needed to tell.

In addition to voting, some of our industry jurors also included comments about the films they enjoyed. Here are some of the juror comments about Aldous’ entry:

From its first image, I was immediately entranced in this moody effort. The story is unique yet simple, the imagery striking, and the music haunting and effective. Really nice work. — COREY MILLER (writer/producer, CSI: Miami)

A creative, taut and pulsating ride, HOW TO GREET THE DEAD embraces the horror and sci-fi genres while organically incorporating the Interpretations script. The understated, intense performances from Aldous Davidson and Sean G. Tarjoto are impressive (and not just because they gamely immerse themselves in ice water). — KIM YUTANI (programmer, Sundance Film Festival)

Wow, this was just crazy. Like early Cronenberg mixed with Asian horror elements. I have to applaud it for sheer nuttiness and being so wildly inventive! — MARCUS HU (Distributor, President of Strand Releasing)

An exercise in Ken Russell… tightly shot, suspenseful, bloody but with reason…disturbing in a good way….establishes a mood and sustains it….good shock cut at end. — CHRIS LEE (producer, Valkyrie)