A man tries to kill himself in a motel room.

As stories about suicide are a common theme among short films, director Jake Honig takes us on a rather unfamiliar path, with a brilliantly executed compact story. Blessed with the presence of a known and accomplished actor like Richard Kind (A Serious Man, Argo, Curb Your Enthusiasm), the simple but yet incredibly profound story leaves the viewers in a thought-provoking state of shock with its rattling and unexpected conclusion.

Black Swell was a small little film we shot in Montauk with our friends for no particular reason other than that we wanted to. The script was an idea of David’s and the two of us worked together through re-writes, production, and post to tell a simple story about two people at the end of their ropes. We reached out to Richard Kind on a whim and were floored that he agreed to bless the project with his talent. All in all it was just a really sweet experience for everyone involved (…we assume, maybe they hated it).

Black Swell was written by David Rysdahl, who also played Jordan, Mr. Fennimore’s (Richard Kind) loud motel neighbour. David gloriously spelled out the relationship between the two as a unilateral cry for compassion and a missed connection for what would ensue. The rest is just a fabulous melange of acting and directing – to leave a lasting (bitter) taste well beyond the rolling credits.