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A Memory of Petra
After the passing of his beloved wife, composer Johnas Fruber takes the stage to present one final symphony. On the eve of the performance, Johnas's brother-in-law attempts to acquire the piece for propaganda.
CAST
Jordan Liebowitz "Johnas"
Jonathan Scherck "Franz"
Irina Aylyarova "Lena"
CREW
Directed by Matthew Wisdom
Written by Luke D'Agnese
Produced by Zach Lowhurst
Cinematography by Harrison Segal
Production Design by John Peet
Editing by JT Salcido
Sound Design by Anika Kumar
Original Score by Ronan Wisdom
The appropriation of art in politics has been a constant throughout history. With A Memory of Petra, I wanted to use this context as the driving conflict, pitting old friends against each other with an impossible choice. We set ourselves the challenge of telling Johnas' story while making old relationship believable, the tension earned, and the eventual decision heartbreaking for our composer.
PRODUCTION NOTES
Johnas and Franz – cat and mouse. Had some great conversations with these two on character and subtext. How do old friends converse after years apart? How can we make this relationship believable in less than eight minutes?
John had three weeks to design, build, and dress Johnas’ study – the result of a last minute location change that could have plagued production. Fortunately, the new setting provided some real intimacy to the film that was sorely missing. Blessing in disguise (thank you PD).
Jordan practicing "Petra's Melody" in-between takes.
Morning rehearsals with Jordan and Irina. We had a solid chunk of time to experiment with blocking and pace - a rarity that let us shoot Petra's opening scene like a play.
First shot up!
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