Synopsis
A senior citizen falls into a reverie of love and regret on the final day of packing up her home.
Winner
Director’s Statement
Crocuses is a modern day portrait of a woman in her seventies. It focuses on Rita Crawley, a widower whose husband, Bernard, died the year before. We meet her as she is about to move out of her family home into a condominium. When her daughter, Jackie, shows up to help, they argue over leaving Bernard’s chair behind. The argument provokes Rita to reflect back on her life. Through a dreamscape of memory and image, a portrait of Rita is revealed. It tells not only of Rita’s relationship with Bernard but also of her relationship with her current world. In a broader sense, it touches on: a lost way of life; the freedom and restrictions of our upbringing; the limitations and power of women; the profound beauty of love and loss.
With Crocuses, I wanted to create a portrait of woman through memory and image. I begin with a conventional setup and then move into Rita’s memories. By pushing into her internal landscape, I also push into form, mixing narrative and documentary elements. Although I purposely wanted to play with the medium, it was equally important for me to tell a story that is motivated by character. My hope is that audience’s leave the theatre with a sense of Rita and her complicated heart.
