BEHIND THE SCENES is a Short that explores the negative effects of too much screen time and how it affects relationships. Premiering at this month’s DIFF SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL, Friday, August 23 – Sunday, August 25, 2024 at Angelika Dallas. This film is a must see.
A young French American couple seemingly have it all going for them: beauty, youth, and a deep love for each other. However, there is a different reality behind that image of the “perfect” couple that she has obsessively been documenting on social media. While she cannot resist the desire to constantly have her cell phone camera focused on them, he finds he can’t compete with that and begins to angrily pull away, until their relationship reaches the breaking point. Will their love for each other be able to overcome her love of their image on social media?
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
When I was 16 years old, I chose to write and direct Behind The Scenes: The Short Film to start what I felt was a long overdue conversation about the potential harmful impact of social media on mental health and human relationships by asking: “Since when has an image had more value than the real thing?” If we are paying attention to the world around us, I think we can easily see that my generation has been particularly affected by this.
In the film, I chose to incorporate dialogue in both French and English, to not only explore my own bicultural roots but also aim to fully address a theme that transcends ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical boundaries, language, and age. Regardless of any of those details, in the digital social media-obsessed era we live in today, it is all too easy for people to forget about being present in the moment. Through a lens of satire and compassion, I wanted the film to follow its two young characters navigating their relationship as it competes with a fictitious and constructed reality she tries to shape via social media. I saw Behind the Scenes: The Short Film as a way to artfully explore the ways social media can negatively impact behavior and real human relationships: the unrealistic and false expectations it can create; the increased jealousy and constant comparison to our crafted image; and ultimately – the negative effects it can have on identity, autonomy, and the health of our relationships.
From a visual and artistic point of view, we wanted Behind The Scenes: The Short Film to use striking color schemes and set designs with intricate surreal sound design to create a sort of “emotional realism” throughout the film. Inspired by the absurdity social media has created, I wanted to break from conventional filmmaking/acting rules. For example, we kept the light fixture setups in the shots, used stylized “unnatural” nature sounds to emphasize the lack of authenticity in today’s digital world, and broke the fourth wall, etc.
To fully utilize the film’s potential as a “Call To Action”, we’ve chosen to incorporate an outro at the end of the short film in which I introduce our partner “Reboot & Recover” (the first US non-profit dedicated to helping individuals who suffer from screen addiction). Along with this, I have reached out to journalists, authors, and activists I have become aware of who have addressed the topic and issues related to it in order to communicate with them and actively work on concrete ways to address the increasing dangers related to screen/social media addiction. In fact, I will be meeting with congressman Jamie Raskin (Maryland’s 8th District) next January to push for legislation that would regulate social media apps’ software that are known to be addictive.
CREDITS:
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Valentina El Harizi
PRODUCER: Claudia M. Pardiñas Ocaña
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Benjamin Gaskell
SOUND DESIGN: Laura Taylor
EDITOR: Michael Frost
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Daniela Pineda-Iriarte
CAST: Valentina El Harizi, Max Johnson
TRT: 20 min
COUNTRY: USA
