D10. Best Directing (Nominee)
The Summer She Disappeared
From Connor Stuchbery
Mira and her best friends Ezra, Shaun and Elena take their well-earned summer break after a long term of university work. But one day, Mira changes. She distances herself and comes back a shadow of her former vibrant and friendly self. While Shaun and Elena believe that it’s because she needs space, Ezra knows that something has changed and that the Mira he knows wouldn’t do this.
Hello, my name is Connor Stuchbery and I am from Melbourne, Victoria. I just finished my Bachelor of Film at SAE University College and am the writer and director of 'The Summer She Disappeared', which I'm so excited has been shortlisted for the Best Directing at the Australia Youth Film Festival. Having already seen the impact this film has had on our target audience in its early audience testing phase, I'm super confident in this film and I'm so grateful for the chance to share this film so that it can help other people break out of their depression and help them move forwards.
What inspired you and your work?
I’ve suffered from depression and self-sabotage for a long time, and it took me a long while to articulate and confront these feelings.
While writing many scripts like this, ‘The Summer She Disappeared’ was the idea that helped me finally figure out what I was going through, that being a state of constant overthinking and self-sabotage thanks to my depression. It would even get to a point where I doubted whether or not my greatest friends even cared, but what I’ve come to realise is that it’s my depression trying to sabotage me. What this film is to me, is both a love letter to the people who have helped me through this, and an acknowledgment of how far I’ve come, for working to understand and confront the problem instead of running from it. By making this, I hope to fully confront my own issues because I believe that expressing yourself emotionally is the key to confronting these issues, while also telling the people who don’t know but who have helped me so much.