Hide and Seek (2012)

Plot summary

Vera -a 4 year old girl- is in a bathtub.Her MOTHER is helping her take a bat.They playtogether.after the bath they have a conversation about Vera's missing father.Vera and her mother are playing hide and seek in the forest.Vera's mother is in the hospital bed,she is in a coma.Vera watches her.Vera overhears her grandmothers phone conversation,The Grandmother talks to some friendand when asked what do the doctors say about Vera's mothers situaton,answers that only Godcan save her now.Vera hears this.Vera comes into a church and shouts asking if God is here.after not getting an aswer sheleaves.On a street she meets a PRECHER who is talking about how peoples souls are tormented-ahuman is lost in a dark forestand sees no way out.About 15 people of different ages arestanding near andlistening.Vera comes through this crowd and also starts listening. During thisthe Preacher says that he will demonstrate what he is talking about.A Teenage Girl standsnear him.The preachersays tLat now he will demonstrate how does a soul tormented bydemons look tike.The Preacher turns to his assistant who is holding a boom-box.The assistantpushes the play button.Black Metal( or hardcore punk) music starts to play.A group of 10punks run out,they start a moshpit.The Girl ends up in the middle -he is thrown from side toside in a violent manner. The preacher stops the demonstration.He then asks the audience toobserve how will those demons act if the soul is accustomed with the proper way of living andhas Light inside.All the violent Punk Kids run away.The preacher tells everyone that there is away to be one with God and he can teach them how-Everybody is welcome to sign up for aspecial course(seminar) of holyliving and the first lesson is absolutely free.He than saysthat soon free soup will be given out as promised but now he will teach everyone an exerciseto scare off the demons.He asks everyone to close their eyes ,to imagine the demonsaround them and to start pushing them away with their arms.The preacher demonstratesactively.The audience -with their eyes closed-wave their arms all around hitting oneanother.Vera watches,somehow tries to join.She later comes up to the preacher asking him where God lives,but the preacher just says thatthe seminar is not for free and tells Vera to come back with her parents.Vera walks trough diffferent landscapes untill she meets two hooligans who just got out of afight.she asks them for some money and explains that needs it to find out where Godlives.They laugh at her first but then offer her a deal-if she works for them ,they will tell herwhere God lives.One of the boys is named MAX.Vera is standing at the train station.Max instructs her what to do.He is making her act as abeggar.He says she has to sing now,so that people will give her money.Vera says she does notknow much songs.Max says any song will do.Vera starts singing.People walk by withoutpaying any attention.To make Vera look more pitiful Max first puts a blindfold on one ofVera's eyes to make her look like she lost an eye.Vera continues singing.Max gives her acrutch to make her look handicapped. Some people throw coins and little money in the charitybox that stands on the ground.After this the boys are couting money,they did not earn much.Vera comes up and asks whereGod lives,but Max tells her to scram.After she tells him that eh promised to tell,Max tellsVera that God lives in Heaven and that she will get there after she dies.Vera is walking down the railroad tracks.She sits on the tracks waiting for the train tocome.When the train gets close,Max and his friend jump out of nowhere and save Vera.Wedont hear what Max is saying because of the loud noise of the train,but he explainingsomething to Vera.A very old abandoned house.Max tells Vera to go with the MAN that stands near by,and ifVera does everything the MAN asks her to do,the MAN will give money which will pay forthe information Vera wants.Max promises to tell her where God lives after she goes with theMAN.Vera takes the MAN's hand and they both walk inside the house,where the MAN kissesher...Flashback. Vera is playing with her MOTHER near a waterfall.They are having a goodtime.They see a plane fly above them,so they wave their hands.Vera smiles.Max helps Vera put her scarf on.He instructs her to go into the forest that is infront of her.Hetells her to go right through and that Heaven is on the other side and that is where God lives.Vera's journey first takes place in a vast forest which she '*,alks through.Eventually shecomes to a huge Forest Cemetary.She is tired.A WOMAN walks through the cemetary.Her face is emotionless.Although you can see that ithas been scarred by sorrow and alcohol.She is carrying an infant CHILD.After a long walkshe suddenly stops,stands for a moment looking at the baby and puts him on the ground.Sheleaves the baby.The kid starts crying.Vera hears the baby and comes up to it.She looks at it for a while.Asheasks if the child is playing hide and seek.Vera takes the baby in her hands.She says that herfather is the world champion in hide and seek.Everybody looks for him,but no one can findhim.She continues her conversation with the baby sitting at the graveyard...  

History of the Project

The project started two years ago when I frst had the idea to make a film about a child whogoes out into the world literally looking for God.Just like the young Gautama he wouldwitness many of worlds curses for the first time ,becoming a different person along theway.The child has a clear innocent gaze.Just like we all had one day-the gaze of amazementand wonder.The only suitable perspective for what I wanted to say.The original story wasdifferent from the final film.The most obvious being that the main character was originally aboy,not a girl.And the focus was mainly on how this boy becomes a man by overcomingdifferent obstacles on his way.The film was also more character based with the child spendingmore time with certain people,unlike the fragmented meetings with people the character hasin the final version.The script changed many times,eventually turning into a huge story that Iknew I would not be able to make at this moment,so I decided to leave that script for bettertimes and tried to take the idea in a different direction.I knew I had several ways with thisstory,so eventually ended up with several completely different scripts.After deciding that Imight do two completely different perspectives on this story in time,In decided to focus on theone that was more suitable for a short film format and not the longer version that I amplanning to do in futere.The project was originally planned to be shot in a completely different manner.Onecinematographer from Finland was very interested in participating,but later had to leave toAfrica for a documentary production.He was leaving for a long time and I could not wait. Sowe could not work together even though we have already started pre production.The directionwe were going was in many ways a real road movie with vast territories of land that we wereplanning to cover.After that I though maybe I could make this on a more local level and found anther DOP,whoI worked with on my previous short film.The visual style did not change much in ourplans.Although now we decided to go with a more calm approach,that would be more at homewith longtakes then with long story arcs.Casting has been an important part for the project from day one.A have spent alsmost a yearsearching for a child that I would find suitable for the main role.The Casting for the other actors has been less of a hassle.We did have rehearsals but onlyenough to outline the actions.During the actual shoot I would ask the actors to do somethingthat differed from what we have been doing in rehearsals.I wanted to make them live theirlives infront of the camera ,not to act out rehearsed peaceas.The camera would be a hiddenobserver.But alas,at the very last moment this DOP was gone too.A good job offer abroad that shecould not turn down.So in the end with only a couple weeks left before the production I started looking for a newDOP and found one that I really enjoyed working with ,although the fact that we did not haveenough time to get to know each other better did take the film in a rather shaky direction,aland filled with handheld camera shots and improvised arrangements .It was exiting but a bitfrustrating as well,because the risk factor is usually very high with these kind of almostguerilla productions.Eventually I ended up with a project rather different to the one I was starting with,but I amthankfull that I did.Along the way I got valuable experiance,achiaved a new level ofawareness and confidence.And also,most importantly,made a film,that even though differentfrom the original plan,is still a film a wanted to make and I would stand behind every shot if itneeded to be somehow defended.But I beliave that films do not need our defence.They arethemselves a source of strenght that can defend us in the most complex moments of our lives.