Re•displacement – Synopsis: Leo undergoes a modern form of therapy that allows patients to visually recall their memories in order to overcome underlying trauma. As his therapist guides him through forgotten moments from his past, Leo begins to question whether the process can be trusted.
The film had a successful film festival run, premiering at Prague Independent Film Festival, winning Best UK Short at Nottingham Film Festival and Best Director at Cell Adore Film Festival in the UK. It just had its digital premiere with DUST (watchdust.com) and has gained over 250,000 views across platforms in one week.
Director Statement: Re•displacement is a film about memory and the psychology of analysing one’s past. I wanted to create a high-concept film that uses sci-fi conventions to explore complex emotional themes in an objective way, but at the heart of this film is a very personal drama.
The film poses a lot of thought-provoking questions, but only resolves a few of them, leaving the audience to search for answers in the fragmented pieces. I wanted to make the viewer’s mind to stretch to the different possibilities within the film, feeling much like the protagonist Leo, who by the end is still not sure which path is the most truthful.
The story explores the ways we suppress traumatic memories to protect ourselves, discussing whether this is effective self-preservation or a form of self-sabotage. I wanted to immerse the viewer into a very volatile world and chose to take them on a predominantly visual and aural journey that replicates the erratic, unpredictable nature of a mind in crisis.
Director Biography: Lewis Coates was nominated as Best New Filmmaker at IMDb’s 2019 awards after winning Best Screenplay at Largo Film Awards for his short film When Voices Unite, which was funded and distributed by Channel 4’s Random Acts. He is an ambitious writer/director, whose high-concept films explore what it is to be human in today’s society, often creatively utilising elements of genre film to explore very personal issues. He is currently developing and producing two BFI-backed short films.
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