Always Were explores the nuanced evolution of the relationship between Julia, an aging model struggling with her isolation and depression, and her teenage daughter, Sidney, who is navigating the same challenges through her adolescence. Our film is a visual and emotional exploration of familial bonds, introspection, and the delicate dance between the seen and unseen. The latest short film from director Noah Griffin, Always Were is a film for anyone who can share in the main characters’ experience of loneliness in a crowd and of finding a connection with a family member.

Directors’ statement:
There comes a time in anyone’s life when a kind of transference takes place in the relationship between parent and child. Like the flip of a switch or the emulsion of a photograph, we abruptly see our parents in new ways, realizing they existed before we did, thought thoughts and lived lives entirely separate from our own. Almost always, it’s a flower of understanding that blossoms into a flood of impossible questions and knotty, uncertain feelings. Always Were seeks to be that moment, to capture that deeply intimate process. The one where parent and child both come together yet remain at a ghostly distance.

Team:
Writer/Director – Noah Griffin
Producers – Christian Straub, Madeline Weiner
Associate Producers – Elisabeth Sandahl, Misha Bondarenko
Production Designer – Katherine Frantz
Director of Photography – Ben Goodman
Production Coordinator – Christi Zimmerman
Editor – Chris Lambert