#MondayMovies: Simi Abe
Simi Abe + BLACK FISH
There are those remarkable moments in the lives of many creatives where things fall into place in ways that we hardly can predict or expect. Where the fates seem to send us a very specific message, “You’re on the right path!”
It seems like Simi Abe, a UK-based filmmaker, got that message loud and clear. Having just completed an introductory course in screenwriting at university, she discovered she had a knack for the craft. Without any prior filmmaking experience she applied to BBC New Creatives, a development program funded by BBC Arts and Arts Council England, in which 500 artists are commissioned to make fresh and innovative short films. She applied with a script she had written at university - Black Fish - and was accepted.
With the piece, Abe had set herself with a specific challenge: “to explore grief through a surreal lens. I thought about the tension between wanting to see the person you’ve lost again and knowing it’s not possible, and doing so through photographs and memories. Then I thought: how could I take that tension and push it a step further? That’s how I came up with the concept of photos depicting the life a person would have lived if they hadn’t passed away.”
Black Fish is an awesome short that packs a powerful punch. Here are a few works that influenced Abe.
Where to Watch
A Ghost Story
“It’s a film about loss and grief so the themes overlap with Black Fish. I love how still and quiet A Ghost Story is, and yet it’s always so engaging. Even that 5-minute scene of Rooney Mara eating pie. I wanted to adopt that same quietness in Black Fish. I wanted the mother’s grief to dictate the pace and tone of the film so we could identify with her as much as possible. “
Where to Watch
Black Mirror - Be Right Back
“This one isn’t a movie but it’s another story about grief and more specifically a story about trying to stay connected with the deceased. I remember when I first watched that episode, I was taken by the fact that these replicas of the deceased were so exact in their speech and mannerisms. There’s something so dark and bittersweet about a person being replaced by a facsimile. But you can also understand why someone would give in to something that reminds them of the person they’ve lost. That’s an idea I wanted to evoke in Black Fish.”
Where to Watch
Beginners
“Mike Mills will often include still images of things like the sun or a galaxy or a picture of the president in his films. And he’ll couple that image with a voice-over of the protagonist saying something like, “This is the sun in 1978. This is what the stars look like. This is the president.” It’s a clear way of creating context. Establishing what has and has not changed despite the passing of time. I somehow always come back to that when I’m writing. I like the simplicity of it. I like how much can be contained within a still image. Maybe, in part, that’s why I chose photos as the vehicle through which the mother sees her son in Black Fish. “