For Worse

My short film ‘For Worse’ is my worst fears for my future marriage personified. This dread was stimulated by the array of failed relationships that we see through social media.

I noticed that a lot of young people like me also had concerns about the problems that could occur if they were in a committed long-term relationship. I wanted to explore through story and characters.

One of the issues I discussed in my film is Sickle Cell Anaemia which ‘is particularly common in people with an African or Caribbean family background’ (NHS, 2019). To get a greater understanding of the difficulties people with the ailment have, I conducted an interview with someone who suffers from the condition. We discussed her opinions, fears, and reservations of dealing with sickle cell in her relationships and with her future children. It was important that I reflect her experience accurately in the script as ‘scripts are based on real stories’ (Miyamoto, 2019).

I was inspired by the film (A Marriage Story, 2019) it was relatable to my short film as it also showcases the ‘stories that are told about a marriage as its dies’ (Brody, 2019) as well as the disintegration and complexities that lie within that. There is something universally relatable about a relationship deteriorating that could strike an emotional chord and relate with people from many cultures. The response to that film showed me there is an audience for stories that reflect real lived experiences.

In my preparation and research, I looked to the (BFI, 2021) diversity standards as a reference to how I should treat the issues of class, gender, race etc. I made sure that I casted protagonists that were dark skinned.
As well as that, my crew were mostly women. On set the majority is always white males and I wanted to change that narrative.

In my film I tried to showcase a universal pain with a storyline that discusses topics that don’t just affect black people. My film is left on a cliff hanger showing that the decision is all in my protagonist’s hands. It was my intention to make a film that discusses how one can prevent one’s pain and re-write one’s own narrative by having agency and foresight. I think my intended audience will find this refreshing to watch at it is different to what is shown in media. Next in my writing journey I would like to concentrate more on ‘black joy’ and showing more positive stories.