UNDER THE SUPERMOON

  • Director

    Larica Perera

  • Country, Year, Length

    Canada, 2019, 13 min

  • Category

    Short Narrative

  • Format

    Digital

  • Festival Year

    2020

Cast: Andrea Bang, Ticoon Kim, Redd Ochoa, Ilamaria Ebrahim, Jonathan Kim, Christina Song
Crew: Producers: Ali Goldthorpe, Bea Macapagal, Larica Perera – Screenwriters: Larica Perera – Executive Producer: Courtney Deelen (Deelen’ With Trouble)
Email: larica.perera@gmail.com
Web: underthesupermoon.wixsite.com/film

Synopsis
When her younger brother dies by suicide, Lena returns to her childhood home to help her family ready for the funeral. Recalling the final moments she had with her brother, Lena comes to terms with her own grief and the guilt that she has been carrying with her since his death.

Director
Larica Perera was born in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka and moved to the Philippines shortly after. At the age of six, she immigrated to Canada with her family. A graduate of Sheridan College’s Media Arts program, Larica aims to channel her passion for filmmaking into telling stories of connectivity, and how seemingly ugly moments of despair and desperation can manifest into beautiful moments of growth and understanding. Under The Supermoon is the sixth title in her short film repertoire, awarded funding via the Ontario Arts Council. Previous films include Greenwood and TIK-TIK, the latter which was awarded the Best Female Filmmaker grand prize in the 2016 My RØDE Reel Challenge.

Filmmaker’s Note

This film was inspired by the single image of a young boy standing below a bright moon, waving goodbye to someone he would never see again. From there, it developed into a story about a family experiencing the multitudes of loss, and the complicated grief that comes along with losing someone to suicide – especially someone so young. Having recently experienced the loss of my own brother to his mental illness, Under The Supermoon is a film that I wear very close to my heart. It is my hope that this film can be a part of the social push to bring awareness to mental health disorders and to help break down the stigma surrounding it. We rallied together to finish this film for my brother, and it is for him that we share this story.