IN DEVELOPMENT

FEATURE FILM

Genre: Mystery Drama

Logline: In a restless ride to achieve their dreams, Sophia, Miles and Elaea push themselves to their limits, until a tragic event brings them back together.

Synopsis:

In a rush to get quick cash and leave the house he shares with his ex-girlfriend Elaea and the mysterious online sex worker Sophia, Miles downloads an app for escorts and gets involved in a series of bizarre sexual encounters.

Elaea, who dreams of a big life and career as an interior designer, wonders why people only approach her for sex and if her ambitions are just a delusion. At home, she hears her flatmate performing her sex shows online. ‘What would be so wrong if I, too, started using my sex appeal to make money and grow my business?’

Meanwhile Sophia, who has been taking antidepressants to numb a mysterious illness since the age of 12, stops taking her medications, deeply desiring to heal and become ‘a normal person’.

We present a universe which is dark and desolate and where people strive to find independence and define their boundaries.
The three characters are closely bonded to one another but, for over half of the film, we see them on their own, without ever revealing their connection.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

This project was born in London, among the walls of the Design Museum, the place where I spent many hours with other artists and filmmakers, working part time and discussing our everyday struggles.

As we became aware of the power and authenticity of our conversations, we met outside the museum and shot a series of interviews, where I proposed fictional scenarios and asked them intimate questions.
The outcome felt powerful and sincere, a collection of stories which really happened to us, together with things that we secretly crave but don’t dare doing.

When we read the treatment together, it became clear that ‘Dream Baby Dream’ was a film about people trapped inside their dreams and ambitions. It explores the way in which love and authenticity can still endure in a high-pressure society that is primarily focussed on career and individuality.

Like in Mike Leigh’s works, we are writing the dialogues only after workshopping them with the actors. This approach has the aim of preserving a naturalistic feeling and will be reinforced by a camera in constant motion, prioritising close-ups and long shots.
Mixing social realism with dreamlike atmospheres - like in the early works of Scorsese and Paul Schrader (Eg: ’Taxi Driver’ 1976, ‘Light Sleeper’ 1992), we aim to create the portrait of a desolate and nocturnal city, where all its inhabitants have a secret life to hide.

Stills from shooting tests: Athena Phos plays Elaea