SOMETIMES, I THINK ABOUT DYING
NARRATIVE | 15 – 20 MIN. | AWARD WINNERS, EVERYDAY LIFE, MENTAL HEALTH, WORKPLACE
Fran is thinking about dying, while a man in her office tries to court her.
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But What Does It Mean?
EXPLORE THE FILM'S MEANING →
Even when we feel that we have a sense of a film’s meaning, there is often more to uncover.
Watch this video to better understand the film and why we selected it for the festival.
CLICK TO EXPLORE THE FILM'S THEMES
We can all have some rather dark dreams or fleeting thoughts or images during our day. A lot of the time, we might not even understand them. To banish a dark recurring image, try drawing it. Draw it big, and true, to how you remember it. Once you are satisfied with its likeness, crumple it up, step on it, rip it into two, before discarding it in the garbage.
Meet the Filmmaker
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Stefanie Abel Horowitz directed theater for a decade before pivoting to film. Her second short film, sometimes, i think about dying premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, traveled the world on the Sundance Shorts Tour, garnered Abel Horowitz the Future Filmmaker Award from Palm Spring FF, and was shortlisted for the 92nd Academy Awards. She is an alum of the 2019 New Voices Sundance Lab as well as a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Her essay He’s Your Destiny. Just Be Patient. was published as part of The New York Times Modern Love column in June 2019. Abel Horowitz is repped by Circle of Confusion and Verve.
WHY THEY MADE THE FILM
“We made this film because we had loved making the play version and we wanted to make a short film that we loved.”
Your Turn: What did YOU think of this film?
7 Comments
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UnLonely Film Fest 4
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ABOUT THE UNLONELY PROJECT
The UnLonely Project broadens public awareness of the negative physical and mental health consequences of loneliness while also promoting creative arts-based approaches to reduce the burden. Click here for mental health resources.
Hi. I connected with Robert and learned from him how to reach out to the lonely. I felt like he was lonely too and using his skills to just meet Fran where she was at with no expectation is the medicine she needed to pop out of her scary shell and share her dark world with him. I imagine his response to Fran’s thoughts of death. What did he say after this revelation? Hopefully he just loved her more knowing Fran felt safe with him. And I think Robert also for what he needed when Fran cried and hugged him. He found his medicine for loneliness as well. Thank you for making this film.
I was touched by Robert’s ability to reach out to Fran, even though he was lonely. It is a mystery to me why some are able to reach out of their loneliness and others aren’t. Beautifully done. And obviously, by someone who has been there. The starkness of dialogue and the amplification of background noises painted the picture of loneliness well. Obviously watched by someone who has been there?.
I found myself rooting for them to keep making a connection with one another; two lonely people who found each other. Too many of us in this big, crowded, crazy world do feel lonely
Hi. This film resonated so much with me – the isolation and loneliness of depression can be such a load to bear – it’s suffocating at times. Sometimes you just want to end it all because that can be easier than going through the pain of opening up and connecting with someone. Depression is physically and mentally exhausting and the film does a great job of depicting that. Fran seems to have just enough energy to do her basic daily tasks – anything more is a struggle, but the positive is that she was willing to go out on the date, open up to Robert and just speak her truth. It’s so important that Robert was a safe person to talk to – that he just let her be silent and didn’t judge her for that, and was also receptive to her tears and heavy thoughts at the end of the film. One of the things I’ve found to be most helpful in working through depression is to find people who truly see you and want to get to know you – they are rare but they do exist! Thank you for this film – I want to share this with everyone I know!
I have to agree with Rae. Depression is so much work. Some days it is all you can do to get up and get dressed. Like Fran, you don’t trust anyone. You keep to yourself because that is the safe thing to do. You are too afraid of getting hurt again so you put up walls that won’t allow anyone or anything in. But in the film Fran let Robert in because she felt she could trust him. Little by little she let him into her world. What a struggle for both of them. This film captured what it feels like to be bound in depression and how just letting go gradually feels like. Thank you for making this film.
I am the parent of a young adult that is depressed. I hear Fran’s internal dialogue come out with my own child as I try to help her process through her feelings in new settings. This is a powerful film that also connects to my daughter’s autism. I have faith there are many Roberts out there for her. We can all be a Robert for someone, I think.
The simplistic style of the film successfully captures the depth of Fran’s depression and loneliness. Every shot, every sound, and especially the silences emphasize the paralyzing power of depression. Fran is so desperately disconnected from the world. Her depression seems so deep that she negates her own thoughts. Robert’s interest seems to open a small crack in the walls she has built around her. This film touches me in places I haven’t gone to in many years, yet are still so real that I see myself in both Fran and Robert.