THE MALCOLM TRILOGY

Over the past 5 or 6 years I have made a multitude of short films, 3 of which were always written and directed with one person in mind, my dad, Malcolm.

What will now be known as The Malcom Trilogy, I have made 3 films that explore different parts of my dad, some truer to life than others. I'll be writing an essay (potential video essay) that delves deep into the subtext of each of the films, however, for now here's a brief overview of the three films.

KEEPSAKE

Keepsake, the first of the three was a prospective project about my dad, who at the time of it's production had already been diagnosed with Alzheimers.

He hadn't yet been put in a care home (he has now) at the time of making but my film was in a way, a prediction of possible instances to come, fusing a fictional father and son story with some real life anecdotes and hobbies that my dad used to tell/do. The film is probably the most deeply personal of the three.

ORCHARD ROAD

Much like the filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland used Still Alice to explore Richard's own battle with a deteriorative disease (ALS) through the lens of a different disease (Alzheimers), Orchard Road was used in a similar way to explore one of the reasons I thought my dad perhaps got diagnosed at such an early age, the main character who clearly has an undiagnosed mental disorder is left to his own devices with no mental stimulation due to the nature of his self employed job as a solo gardener.

LATENT

There are a good few things I wish I could ask my dad, but as I can't, I have to take what I already know about him as gospel. This film explores the question of what if you could unearth secrets from your parents, how would it affect you if they're already gone?

It also explores my apparent inability to be able to emote the sadness of my dad's diagnosis in the first few years.

The films sound very morbid reading back over this, however I hope there will be some fun to be had in the film's cinematography, editing and performances, as well as the occasional piece of dark humour.

Enjoy!