Written and directed by Athená Polymenis, produced by Brandon Herrera and starring Jacqueline Lopez (Stella) and Gabriela Gonzalez (Lorraine), "Kindred" is a film that explores the relationship between two sisters, Stella and Lorraine, after they've been shunned to the same room before dinner. The film was inspired by Polymenis's interest in hegemonic familial portrayals and what a relationship between two sisters who might not even consider each other friends would look like.
The film was a team effort between Polymenis and Xavier Ingram who were co-directors of photography on the assignment for their Cinematography course (RTF 343D). The two spent time working on a test shoot to perfect specific ideas Polymenis had for the look and to make sure they had the perfect space.
Having been enrolled in a course taught by Huay Bing-Law (Advanced Narrative, RTF 343), Polymenis was inspired by his focus on storytelling within a moment. Initially a script pitched for that course, Polymenis continued working on the script with Law's critiques and found a place to make the film a reality: Cinematography.
"I'm not a very flashy cinematographer, and I think there's merit in exploring a more subtle cinematography," Polymenis explains, "Luckily, my partner, Xavier wanted to help and we got it made!"
Polymenis and Xavier tested many practical cinematographic choices such as filters, lens, and movement types. Polymenis notes that the choice that made her most excited in it's execution was the choice to take the camera off the tripod once the arguing began and keep it hand held until the yelling had mostly subsided.
"I just love the feel it gives, it's such a subtle thing but it adds to the atmosphere and shapes the audiences viewing exactly how I had envisioned it," Polymenis explains. "It was a long day but we got it done, and as my first narrative project I'm pretty pleased - and so is Xavier!"
Please enjoy the remaining stills from the film which was edited and colored by Tatum Ostos. Don't forget to keep scrolling to checkout the behind the scenes photos captured by photographer Caitlyn Bachmann.
Don't forget to take a look at the behind the scenes photos captured by photographer, Caitlyn Bachmann.
