“Into The Dark” By Roman Duneshenko

A story about a girl and her temptation.

The short film IN MEDIAS RUSH is an experimental cinematic journey into the depths of a manic mind. A poetic retro-sci-fi narrative unfolded in a string of unsettling tableaus that encapsulates the male protagonist’s ambiguous feelings about his birthday. While balancing between realities in his silent struggle with severe mental illness, we plunge into the film at a neatly orchestrated birthday party. The protagonist is accompanied by his girlfriend, and they are drinking cocoa on the couch in their mutual home. The setting breathes pure perfection, but through the voice over we sense that another reality is soon to be revealed. With one foot on the accelerator, he is heading towards the edge. The thematic focal point of IN MEDIAS RUSH is mental health problems among young adults, and the social/personal consequences related to the existing taboo on the subject. The film wishes to formulate an honest cinematic space in which words, sound, and image artistically interprets and articulates some of the perspectives related to especially bipolar, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. IN MEDIAS RUSH was nominated in the category 'Best Danish Short Film' at Copenhagen Short Film Festival in 2020. Original title: IN MEDIAS RÆS Directed by: Esben Persson -------------------- DK: IN MEDIAS RÆS IN MEDIAS RÆS er en filmisk rejse ind i dybderne af et manisk sind. En ung mand fejrer sin fødselsdag, mens hans tanker tordner afsted. Med en uvillig fod på speederen har han kurs mod kanten. FR: IN MEDIA RES IN MEDIA RES est un voyage dans les profondeurs d’un esprit maniaque. Un jeune homme fête son anniversaire tandis que ses pensées se multiplient. Malgré lui, il se dirige vers un point de non-retour. -------------------- Cast: Peter Alexander Bach & Amanda Overby Drew Director // Script writer // Set designer // Costume designer // Editor // Speaker: Esben Persson Photographer // Editor: Lasse Mølsted Producer: Latifa Lykke Ben Mabrouk Assistant producer: Cecilie Creutsberg Music composer: Martin Bejder Sound designer: Mads Hye Chief Lighting Technician: Rasmus Bruun Liboriussen VFX: Jonas Fonnesbæk Lodahl Colorist: Kristopher Paterson Graphic designer: Jakob Toft Kristensen -------------------- Shot on RED Monstro 8K with Lomo Squarefront Anamorphics.

We all live under the oppression of certain foundations, breaking which we become the object of public censure. I wanted to play this game and take it to extreme. On the one hand, sex is a red flag for those who like to condemn. On the other hand, the church has always been extremely conservative. I pushed these elements together, making it as dramatic as possible and turning it into visual poetry.

Yes, we used the texture of religion, but this video wasn't a manifesto against it. I take religion calmly and even with understanding.

It's more like a manifesto against any power that restricts the natural needs of a person and punishes him for his desires and actions that are harmless to society. And the theme of religion in it is only for the sake of visual aesthetics.

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We planned to shoot a short and simple story in one or one and a half shifts. But the appetite comes with eating! We realized during the process that we wanted to add more and more: to shoot flower time-lapses, to launch a quadcopter, to make glowing eyes from lanterns, etc. As a result, we got 4-5 long shifts in the spring and summer of 2020 and small re-shoots of certain scenes.

Vlada Erofeeva, the main actress, got the worst of it. She had to get pretty cold, to lie in a hole among half-naked women, and even to beat herself in the final scene to make it more realistic. Vlada is a real hero! If I had made a mistake with the casting, we would have had serious problems.

Roman Duneshenko - Director

Credits

Director: Roman Duneshenko
Director of photography: Mila Shamraeva
Producers: Stepan Chernikov, Taya Komarova

Starring: Vlada Erofeeva
Priest: Slava Sikorsky

Production: Cherry, Ogonok

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