David decides to take his partner, Robert on one last romantic weekend away before they part ways. Tension erupts as conversations with their friends bring out David’s insecurities in his monogamous relationship with Robert. While they focus on making the most out of their weekend together, time quickly creeps up to them exposing their dependency on each other. They struggle to find the words to express what the relationship has meant to them as they learn that their actions carry far more weight than their words.
Director’s Vision for ‘This Is For You’
In my latest short film, “This Is For You”, I wanted to tell an authentic queer love story in a way that refused to compromise on what I would describe as Hollywood’s continued history of censoring queerness. For example, I committed to casting two queer actors for the lead roles. I wanted to bring attention to the fact that the queer films in media over the last decade from “Carol”, “Call Me By Your Name”, “Ammonite”, “Supernova”, “Boy Erased”, and many others seem to have glossed over casting even one openly queer person in a lead role in any of these intimate queer films. While chemistry between two people can exist in film no matter who the actors are, I wanted to see what results could come from bringing two talented queer actors together in a film that was, in at least some way, representative of their past experience. There was an ease and trust Griff and Marc had in depicting heartbreak with their shared queer experience in “This Is For You”.
Their chemistry blossomed throughout their scenes- not only in the intimate, explicit sex scenes, but in the tense and tender moments in which their characters found themselves lost with no way to say goodbye to each other. They share an epic kiss at the end of the film, one whose length I’ve more often seen reflected in the depiction of violence or sexual assault in queer cinema, rather than in scenes of intimacy; A trend I would prefer to see reversed.
With every film I make, my hope is to find a way to tell the most genuine story that I can. Stories that affect and influence audiences and their perceptions. I strive to cultivate empathy and, for those unfamiliar, create a greater understanding of queer identities and subjectivities and to, ultimately, reveal the humanity of an enormously diverse community. In the celebration of our differences, we reveal our similarities to the audiences who view our films. In representing the lives, loves, and heartaches of the underrepresented, I aim to not only represent the “Other” but also unravel our connection to each other.
