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This Vast Sea
Narrative short - Directorial Debut
Discovering Grandma is on her deathbed moments before Passover guests arrive, a mother and daughter tussle with how to honor their family.
festival run and awards
This Vast Sea has screened at New York Shorts and First Run Film Festival. It was awarded Best Original Score at First Run Film Festival and won the Clive Davis Award for Excellence in Music in Film.
The film is still on its festival run, so look out for a screening near you!
To watch this vast sea
Reach out to srhinerfeld.inquiries@gmail.com for a private screening link.
Synopsis
With guests arriving imminently to celebrate Passover, a single-mother and only-daughter discover Grandma is on the brink of death. Struggling to accept this encroaching fatality, Mom insists they stay to host their seder. Fueled with urgency, Miri begs for them to go honor their loved one together. Unable to agree, Miri abandons-ship. As Mom recounts the seder’s lessons, she reckons with her actions, unroots the fears that keep her far from those she loves, and sets out to heal the wounds she has made.
This vast sea we must cross to see and be seen. This story is a Brooklyn-based exodus which reminds us of the courage it takes to keep our hearts open to one another.
Set stills
About the Process
This Vast Sea arose from the lack of closure I felt about the loss of my grandmother. By approaching that moment of my life through the creation of a narrative, created an outlet to explore that experience.
About the Story
While I first wrote the script from the daughter’s perspective, I was soon faced with a fundamental tenet of Story: the character that changes is the protagonist. It was not the daughter who learned, she enacted her goal and never wavered from it. It was Mom who changed — her stubbornness broken by a realization which altered her course to a compassionate end. As I wrote Mom’s story, it became my duty to empathize with and understand her experience. This allowed me to find understanding where I had once held resentment.
About the Imagery
In approaching the film’s imagery, I pulled from art that blends the splendor of life with the ache of death. This ranged from stills in the movie Minari to the Dutch artists’ still-life depictions of bouquets.
In Minari, a grandma guides her grandson to boldly embrace himself and the world around him as he weathers a tumultuous family-move. In the movie, the maximalist kitchen is lit by cool, natural lighting. This style became our north star. In both Minari and "This Vast Sea," the kitchen’s decoration — full of family photos, family recipes, and childhood art — is a steady display of care amidst a story of familial turmoil.
About the Imagery cont'd
To the Dutch artists, the portrayal of life was made richer by the reminder of death. The bounty of their bouquets is punctuated by the wilting petals that collect at the base of the vase. In “This Vast Sea,” wrinkled hands are caressed by smooth ones. At Grandma's bedside, fresh-cut flowers rise amongst those that limp towards the table, past their time. This parallel rings true for the seder ceremony as well. Within it, we eat two contrasting ceremonial foods together, Maror and Charoset. Maror (horseradish), which represents the bitterness of enslavement, is sweetened by Charoset (apples and dates sweetened with wine and spices), which represents the promise of life.
"Still Life with Fruit and Flowers" is by Balthasar van der Ast
"Still Life with a Vase of Flowers and a Dead Frog" is by Jacob Marrel
About the Music
On the Surface, “This Vast Sea,” is an intimate narrative. However, the tale of a family losing its matriarch, the strife of a Mother learning to relinquish control, and the story of the exodus are all universal narratives. To bring this to life, the score was orchestrated symphonically. The French Horn, in particular, became key. It is a sound that uniquely expresses ache, carrying melodies from conflict to resolution, inspiring us to action.
The score was created in collaboration with Joss Cameron. Key references for the score were Hakan Hardenberger’s "Elegy," "Josella" by Keaton Henson, and Martin Phipps’ work on The Crown. To create richness within the music, we recorded it live. As mentioned above, "This Vast Sea" was awarded Best Original Score at First Run Film Festival and won the Clive Davis Award for Excellence in Music in Film.
At the Clive Davis Recording Studios recording This Vast Sea's Score.
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