MISSION STATEMENT

These are the words I wished I said and the words I wished I heard.

My name is Christian Santiago and I am a writer and director based in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This is “DETAIL THE HUMAN OPERA”, my third short film.

THE PLOT

Ramiel is with his girlfriend, Ruth, en route to one of her music gigs in Manhattan. He sees a homeless man that reminds him of a figure from his past. An emotional odyssey follows as Ramiel confronts his past and learns to look forward.

HOW TO SUPPORT
Please consider donating to our project! Through my incredible fiscal sponsor ProducerHub ,a 501(c)(3), all donations will be tax deductible!

Please spread the word about our short to everyone you can. Every donation helps make this story better.

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WHY THIS STORY

“DETAIL THE HUMAN OPERA” is the culmination of not only my career as a writer/director but my entire life. My last two films (“SACERDOTISA”, “EMPATHY (Or: The Girl with The Pearl Hair”) have the connective tissue of familial themes. Now I want to do one more narrative but this time turn the lens on myself and my relationship with my family.

I first thought of this story during my freshman year of undergrad. After that, the first draft was completed in the summer of 2022. After many attempts, rewrites, and a full WGA Strike, the script is polished and I’m ready to turn my painful past into something useful, something lasting.

Mental health has become a popular talking point in media and its advocacy is at an all-time high. Even with these miraculous changes I still haven’t seen bipolar disorder depicted realistically. More than that, I haven’t seen a story that has shown how mental illness has long-lasting effects on families.

Now that I’m older I’m ready to reflect, heal, and make art that could strike a nerve in a way that speaks from the heart. Because this is my story, these are the words I wish I said and wish I heard.

OUR APPROACH

The last time I made a film was during the middle of the pandemic. At the time I was still such a green filmmaker - since that time I’ve moved across the country and worked full-time in union television and film. Not only that, but I became a self proclaimed cinephile, watching anything and everything I could get my eyes on. This is all to say, it’s now time to put that knowledge to use.

Narratively, I’ve always been attracted to stories about younger people. People like the term “coming-of-age” but to me that that comes along with preconceived ideas of tropes and story lines. I’ve adopted the term bildungsroman (a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood) Or to put it more simply: using younger people as protagonists to tell stories that would otherwise wouldn’t relate to a younger audience. I think these dichotomies enrich a narrative further.

Some examples of films that inspired the narrative:

Pixote (1980, Dir. Hector Babenco)

Out Of The Blue (1980, Dir. Dennis Hopper)

Fire Walk With Me (1992, Dir. David Lynch)

Eve’s Bayou (1997, Dir. Kasi Lemmons)

The films of Gregg Araki (Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation)

DETAIL THE HUMAN OPERA is a short that examines my past and memories. With that, I want to explore these themes through a surrealist visual lens.

Some examples of surrealist movies/shows that inspired the aesthetic of the visuals:

Valerie And Her Week of Wonders (Dir. Jaromil Jireš, 1970)

Daisies (Dir. Jaromil Jireš, 1966)

Spencer (Dir. Pablo Larrain, 2021)

Rusalochka (Dir. Vladimir Bychkov, 1976)

FX's ATLANTA (2017-2023, Donald Glover)

There will also be a mix of framing techniques and styles implemented - some I’ve used before (Quadrant Framing) and some new to my repertoire (Abstraction/Extreme Close Ups)

Some examples of these include:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, Carl Theodor Dryer)

Mr. Robot (2015-2019, Sam Esmail)

My previous films used different film formats to help get the idea of nostalgia and memories across on a visual level (VHS degradation, Super 16mm) and it’s something I am passionate continuing across my work. For this film, I want to use a mix of 16mm film to represent the current day while using small moments of the past on 8mm.

Mockup Poster Designed by Madelyn Rodriguez (@mtrbravo)

(Mockup Poster Designed by Madelyn Rodriguez (@mtrbravo)

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON

DETAIL THE HUMAN OPERA

By Detail the Human Opera

DETAIL THE HUMAN OPERA

"The story of a young adult coming to terms with the ghost of his Uncle and his lingering Bi-Polar Disorder"