Mortalia - a short film about grief

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?: Dating’s hard at the best of times, but after college freshmen Lou experiences the sudden death of her mother, her social game is at an all-time low. From Xanax-induced stupefaction, to PTSD phantasmagorias, she’s having trouble holding on to the here and now.

Lou’s determination to sedate her grief is aided and challenged by a mix of drugs, alcohol, and her unsuspecting Tinder date, Borris. Intrigued by her bluntness but determined to break down her walls, Borris forces Lou to fulfill the real purpose of the date: getting to know each other, a task she must avoid at all costs.

BUT HOW WILL IT LOOK?: Historically, cinema depicts our relationship to death in retrospect; nostalgic memories, shot fuzzy and soft. Yet many of us learn grief turns the world on its head, making the present moment feel like a dream (or nightmare), while the past, where your loved one lives, is ultra-real.

Mortalia seeks to investigate the shadowy spaces between the Stages of Grief with experimental framing and lighting techniques (including an underwater sequence!!). Looks will vary to establish Lou's deteriorating mental state taking us from the surreal and highly saturated kaleidoscope lensing of her inebriation to the clinical, documentary style flashback frames, depicting her life before her mother's death.

OK....WHO ARE YOU???: Writer/Director Alexa Renée has spent her entire life acting and performing all around the world, spending the last 5 years of it both behind and in front of the camera.

At 18, Alexa lost her mother to Colon Cancer and underwent a life-altering transition into the world of the grieving. Since then, she has started her own bereavement group for young people dealing with loss and has become obsessed with creating art surrounding the living’s relationship to death & dying. With Mortalia she sincerely hopes to explore a specific stage of grief, somewhere in between Denial and Depression that she’s naming “Denession.” While she admits that word is stupid and made-up, she stands by the goal of examining the very real initial facets of the grief experience when shock still pervades every waking (and sleeping) moment, and the here and now feels distinctly distant and intangible. She hopes it will resonate with anyone walking the uncanny line that awaits us all between life and death.

Charlie Losiewicz has spent the last 7 years working full time on film sets, and has built up a production company called Dogstar Films. With a 1 ton grip truck and full lighting/camera package assembled, he’s eager to take this story that lives close to his heart.

We’re looking for additional funding to feed our cast and crew and cover the many hidden expenses that come with a collaborative project with moving pieces. With your help, we’re looking to bring this meaningful story to life and establish ourselves as responsible, creative, efficient, and high-level filmmakers that can be trusted to punch above their weight-class.