The understated story of a 12 year old African American boy, who takes us on an introspective journey out of the city and into the remote countryside of upstate New York.
With a mysterious duffle bag in hand, a 12 year old boy journeys from the urban hustle of Harlem, into the winter-ravaged woodlands a world away. On the road, we slowly discover his real intentions, and the startling significance of what is hidden inside a young boy’s bag. The Baker brother present us this slender story where we slowly sink into the film’s subtleties and pace, and trigger a sudden attachment and resentment for the boy. But then things turn into a completely new direction with no warnings.
We try to have a side project on the go at all times, and this was definitely the most ambitious to date. Adapted from another idea set in Africa, this was the localized NY version of the concept that was a lot more achievable. We wanted to experiment with mixing genres – combining a small quiet exploratory journey with a broader sci-fi idea. Hopefully we managed to keep it all grounded and as sophisticated as we first had in our heads.
The beauty of the film is its relentless gorgeous cinematography that captivates our senses, to completely lose track of what the film is and what it could become, but when it becomes what it is, things get somewhat explosive.
To be honest, the main goal of the short was to broaden our advertising reel, but once the film was in post we realized we’d probably get asked about the feature film version of the story. It’s something we’ve been forced to make some decisions on, and work out what larger story we’d like to tell based on the direction of the short. Hopefully that all moves in a positive direction because we now have a better idea of what that could be.
