Written and Directed by Gregory Alexander Foltynowicz, FACADES is an artistic, expressive, arthouse short film that explores the dynamic connections between self-awareness and relationships. Specifically, the relationship difficulties individuals may experience when there’s a lack of self-awareness and understanding of oneself.
This visually stunning short film (Jeremy Belack) takes it’s audience on a silent, yet poignant journey, on human relationships and the complexities that come with them. The rich black and white footage seems to represent both the good and bad we all have to offer our significant other. The minimal set design (Bria Josephs), adds to this difficult human exploration – through a simpler undertone.
Simply referred to as He (Chris Kircher) and She (Kaylee McGregor), the choice of not giving singular character names makes this film about all of us.
Kircher and McGregor give powerful performances as two people having difficulties in their relationship. They reveal the emotional roller coaster we all take a seat on when we embark on an intimate relationship with someone else. They share their deep joy – and deep open wounds – with the audience.
There is a futuristic feel to the mime look of the characters. Standing in front of a white screen while wearing identical jumpsuits, they pick up their individual crutches that lay in front of them. Do these crutches represent co-dependence – or do they represent that they have one another to lean on?
The water scenes are a beautiful dance above and below the surface. The characters submerging themselves under water seems to represent an ending to their relationship – a type of death – and the enormity of it all.
The beauty of this film is that Foltynowicz allows his audience to take on their own interpretations of the film’s message by connecting our own relationships to these protagonists.
The music in the film (Requiem – Davis Harwell) acts as its own character by adding a pulse and deep emotional layer to the story. Sound (Foltynowicz) also is pitch perfect and embraces the film perfectly.
With absolute no dialogue, and in under 10 minutes, this film visually captivates. Nontraditional in its storytelling, the ambiguity of the characters journey – will either connect with the audience – or perhaps leave them feeling left out.
Foltynowicz wears the additional hats of Executive Producer and Editor. He has taken great care to create a visual gem that salutes the power of a great cinematic journey.
