dip
From dawn to dusk, a boy moves through loneliness and boredom while isolated at home in the middle of winter. Alone with nothing but his closet to keep him company, his day is filled with futile attempts at entertainment to stave off swells of depression that continually submerge him. In a final effort to break the cycle, he escapes to a nearby beach where he finds fleeting ecstasy by plunging into near-frozen water. Our protagonist emerges with a hopeful new outlook dressed in a familiar wardrobe.
Director Statement
Diving into a post-process this March with footage from a lonely New York midwinter day, our team realized we had an essential story to tell. Self-quarantine is a place of mind in which days feel cyclical, homogeneous, and our efforts to break out of oppressive same-ness are laced with colorful cat-walks up and down the hallways of our tiny apartments. It felt vital to pool resources, find creative solutions to logistical obstacles, and lead my skeleton team to a story about the drive to find animation and joy when the world forces you to spend each day alone.
Tsarina Merrin
Tsarina Merrin is an emergent filmmaker and photographer who works across music video, experimental film, portraiture, and fashion. Her client list includes Charli XCX, Caroline Polachek, Netflix, King Princess, and Nasty Cherry, and her editorial work has been published by The Cut, Paper Magazine, V Magazine, and Dazed&Confused. In a mixture of contemporary subject matter and retro crafting, Tsarina’s work confuses time periods utilizing a naturalistic lens with a nostalgic tone. A New York City native living in Los Angeles, her pieces highlight the unique personalities of her subjects, are colored by her use of film, and are informed by experiences growing up in the underground NYC art scene.
