“LAST BREATH ON EARTH” by Kevin V. Doan
LAST BREATH ON EARTH follows Clara as she embraces thoughts of spirituality, afterlife, and loneliness in the aftermath of her mother's death. Equipped with a new sense of loneliness, she traverses the landscape of the old neighborhoods and stores she used to come to as a child. Dealing with themes of loss, grief, and Asian-American diaspora - we see Clara come into her own acceptance towards the end of the film.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“The making of this film was inspired by the death of my grandfather. And the feeling that I think is quite universal where in the weeks following a family member's death, you still feel their presence - in the slow moments. In the quiet ones. The waves of acceptance, and bitter moments of grief that coincide with it. There's a spiritual nature to losing someone that isn't resolved into one specific religion but rather a feeling. In a lot of ways I feel that this is an accurate comparison to what filmmaking is like for me. When I'm on set, I am allowing myself to be vulnerable and open to channeling ideas that could only be caught by "the great beyond" or wherever that could be. I don't try to quantify what this process is and I don't ever want to. And this to me - is how spirituality is as well. I hope that anyone who watches this who is going through something similar can find some solace in what we've tried to achieve with this piece. The idea that our loved ones are always with us in some way, even if we can't understand how, why, or what that looks like. In regards to the set - we could not have been luckier to work with two amazing actresses - Lynn Kim Do, who is the star of the film and Catherine L. Choi who plays her mother. They play off each other's performance beautifully and on set it was hard not to get emotional seeing them revel in each other's company and subsequently mourn for one another's eventual loss. My DP Jake Vriezelaar did a really spectacular job of bringing out the shards of color we wanted in every scene without being too overpowering - showcasing her every present grief with moments of beauty. Our production designer Kaitlin Gaspar - it was our first time working together last year on this project and we've worked together on a few since. She does such wonderful, subtle, and realistic work. Kassi Reyna was our stylist and pulled together outfits that were grounded and still shined throughout. Every single person on this set pulled through on what was a very fast paced, sometimes hectic, but always fun - shoot. Maria our 1st AD was amazing, Kym our 1st AD did an excellent job, and Matt Motyl - one of the best upcoming DP's in NYC helped us out on camera team for day one. Kevin Wu of Studio Feather colored this film and working with him was an incredible experience and I could not be happier with the final product (shoutout to Jaclyn Morga as well!). AnnAnn Puttithanasorn our on-set photographer worked wonders, and everyone on the backend - Adam Clark who recorded the voiceovers, and Karlo Corona who did the sound mix blew me away with how this project sounds. And I have to give a major and special shoutout to Abi Gaudreau, our locations manager, of which this film would not have been possible and I am so grateful for her (not just for this film but in general!), Devon Tayman who is the swiss army man of producers and one of my best friends, and Johanna Cranitch who always creates the most beautiful soundscapes of scores - this film and every film we work on together is better because of it. Lastly, I want to thank all of the featured performers - Sam Besca, Payton Georgiana, Katherine Harrington, Hannah Miller, Trish Pickelhaupt, and Isabella Vizetta for coming to Moodring for the club scene on a VERY busy night to help us. Forever grateful to the team that made this solemn project happen and I'm so proud of the work we made. It means so much to me and I hope that people like it.”
-Kevin V. Doan
CREDITS
Writer, Director, Producer, Editor// Kevin V. Doan/ @kvdoan
Producer// Devon Tayman/ @devonmadeamovie
Director of Photography// Jake Vriezelaar/ @jvriez
1st AC// Maria Raad/ @mariaraaad
Set Decorator// Kaitlin Gaspar/ @maybekaitlin
Costume Designer// Kassi Reyna/ @kassi.reyna
1st AD// Kym Tahira-Smith/ @kymberlitahira
Locations Manager// Abi Gaudreau/ @abi.gdrow
Colorist// Kevin Wu (Studio Feather)/ @bykevinwu
Composer// Johanna Cranitch/ @whiteprismmusic
V.O. Recording Engineer// Adam Clark/ @producedbyadamc
On-Set Photographer// AnnAnn Puttithanasorn/@annannputtithanasorn
Camera + Lighting Assist// Matt Motyl/ @mattbmotyl
STARRING
Lynn Kim Do/ @lynnkimdo
Catherine Choi/ @catherine.l.choi
FEATURING
Sam Besca/ @bamsesca
Payton Georgiana/ @paytongeorgiana66
Katherine Harrington/ @katarington
Hannah Miller/ @hannahhmillerr
Trish Pickelhaupt/ @trishapickelhaupt
Isabella Vizetta/ @isabellavizetta
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