SYNOPSIS
When a sudden encounter with a mysterious student triggers a painful memory for ornithology professor Abel Marks, he’s haunted by the vision of an attempted sexual assault and murder he witnessed while fighting in World War II. Compelled to seek out the student in hopes of assuaging his guilt, Abel quickly loses his grip on the reality he so delicately constructed. Ultimately, he’s forced to confront the dark truth of what actually happened – and who he really is.
Our Team
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Eli Snyder
DIRECTOR
Eli Snyder began his film career as a child actor in films such as 300 and Watchmen. He went on to study directing at UCLA's prestigious theatre, film, & television program. His undergraduate thesis film, Interlude, received awards at film festivals across the country.
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Tara Austin
PRODUCER
Tara Austin graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Film Studies. She also holds an MA in Film Studies from Concordia University in Montreal. Austin was the 1st AD on the independent action feature The Badge, assisted the lead actor and producer on both Riddick and Fast & Furious 6, and worked in the VFX department on Smurfs 2.
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Shunchao Xu
PRODUCER
Shunchao Xu is from Wuxi, China. He recieved a BA in Film and Marketing at Emerson College. In addition to producing short films, he assisted the producer of the TV series April Star and the DP of feature film The Legend Hunters. Shunchao has rich bilingual production experience and he’s currently a 2nd year producing fellow at AFI.
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Kevin Sweeney
CO-WRITER
Kevin Sweeney is a half black, half Italian writer from Los Angeles. He’s a member of American Mensa, and studied directing at CalArts. He's worked for Ridley Scott, Activision, Phoenix Pictures, and Valhalla Entertainment. He was the youngest director selected for both the ABC DGA Television Directing Program and the Sony TV Directing Program.
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Hayley Tibbenham
CO-WRITER
Hayley Tibbenham graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 with a B.M.A. in Voice Performance and Minor in Creative Writing. She wrote, directed, and acted in her debut short film, Inhuman, which was invited to the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Her feature screenplays earned a Hopwood Prize in Dramatic Writing and won Best Overall on the Blue List.
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Tianyi Liu
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tianyi Liu is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and a current fellow at The American Film Institute. He is a student member of The Society of Camera Operators. Irretrievable, a film he shot, was selected as a semi-finalist at the "Flickers" Rhode Island International Film Festival and finalist at the New York Cinematography Award. His film, Leaf, has been publicly screened in Beijing Times Gallery.
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Cyrum A. Ramirez
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Hailing from Cancun, Mexico, Cyrum A. Ramirez began her career in Canada where she studied visual arts and design. She then furthered her education by earning a BFA in Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy, where she wrote and directed ten short films. Since then, she has lived in Los Angeles, where she has been the production designer on 22 short films, two feature films, three commercials and four music videos.
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Yijuan "Reggie" Zhao
EDITOR
Yijuan “Reggie” Zhao is a recent graduate of UC San Diego, with a BA in Visual Arts-Media. While at UCSD he focused on shooting and editing short films. He has also worked at a television station in Guangzhou. Last summer, he served as an assistant editor in Lerfilm & Reason studio. He is currently a 2nd year editing fellow at the American Film Institute.
The American Film Institute Conservatory
At the world-renowned AFI Conservatory, a dedicated group of working professionals from the film and television communities serve as mentors in a hands-on, production-based environment nurturing the talents of tomorrow's storytellers. The Conservatory is consistently recognized as one of the world's top film schools. AFI is the only school to ever sweep the narrative category at the Student Academy Awards (2015, 2019).
With an emphasis on narrative visual storytelling and personal expression, each class breaks into teams that mirror a real production environment. Those teams collaborate on and produce more films than any other graduate level film program.
Established in 1969, the two-year Master of Fine Arts program provides training in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. Admission to AFI Conservatory is highly selective, with a maximum of only 140 graduates per year.
Contact us.
IN-KIND DONATIONS
Help comes in many forms. We will gratefully accept any in-kind donations to our film and you will make the credits! In-kind donations may be tax deductible for the full retail value.
Please contact us and let us know how you can help in any part of the production process.