Plans That They’ve Made

In 2020 Melbourne mourns, a dreamer dreams. Will filmmaking ever be the same again? If film is an extension of dreaming, what is a filmmaker during a 112 day lockdown? Evangeline Lee a Malaysian residing in Australia is overcome by loneliness and begins to sleep-talk every night. A cancelled flight, multiple films on hold, a small apartment and endless time. One day she searches google maps out of boredom and finds an image of herself at her childhood home, a reflection of life in 2020, a pixilated mirror. Melbourne has eradicated the second wave, and with the lens turned inwards we captured the isolation. This is the story of each individuals sacrifice to the plans that they've made, all for the greater good.

Co-directed by Evangeline Lee & Matthew Victor Pastor

Documentary

In production (TBA)

DREAMS (EVANGELINE LEE):

With all this distance and isolation our dreams can sometimes be more vivid. For me my dreams became a wild adventure told from the point of view of my childhood self. Listening back to my sleep-talking, which grew more surreal and intense, I knew these recordings would shape parts of the film. A nightmare of losing something, and continuously walking into the endless night. Many people had this nightmare. This film aims to capture that feeling. Its the the sleepwalking and perpetual forward motion that can’t be stopped that we were fascinated by. What I find interesting is that film preserves the past. This whole city is a floating dream, never-ending and continuous. This film is about the plans on hold and sacrifice as a floating camera taken through the empty city streets of Melbourne. This documentation of the path to the dream is one we find very special, as we literally captured in real time the space between being awake and when the sleep talking starts. From there we are inside the dream, and this documentary aims to blur the two worlds. When does the dream and the film start and stop.

LENS (MATTHEW VICTOR PASTOR):

Throughout the documentation the lens plays a role in the images we see. The empty streets, the lonely apartment we document literally though the reflection in Evangeline's glasses lens the city changing. It was a difficult task to shoot the world changing through a small lens in her glasses but this and perpetual forward motion allows us to explore the past. Where does this creativity come from? Once what being reflected is documented it instantly goes from present to past. We also wanted to subvert the idea of films about filmmakers shown making films. This image through the lens reflection starts small, then by the end of the film we have an extended 7 minute long take of Melbourne in lockdown through the window of a tram, but through her lens. As we hurdle into the future this poetic image captures my optimism for the not too distant future as we move away from what once was.