SING ME TO SLEEP, 25min,. USA
Directed by Mario Valdivieso
"Sing Me To Sleep" follows the story of a young couple by the name of Marc and Julia. Julia has been diagnosed with cancer and she is at the point where her disease has become terminal. Marc decides to take his dying wife home so they can make the most of their last days together.

https://www.instagram.com/sing_me_to_sleep_film/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve been with my partner Kira (also a producer on the film) for five years now. We started dating three months before covid. When covid hit, we decided to move in together as she is immune compromised which made the prospect of her getting covid extra dangerous. Unfortunately she ended up getting covid and spent several weeks in the hospital with double pneumonia and even the doctors at the time were unsure if she would survive. She did recover thankfully, but it got me thinking a lot about telling a story about a relationship ending when it was just getting started. The nugget of that concept became “Sing Me To Sleep”. I also wanted to tell a realistic portrayal of what it is like to care for someone who is sick.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

I wrote this short as my final project for a screenwriting class when getting my MFA at DePaul university. Between rewriting, getting a crew of DePaul students together and raising funds for the film, I’d say it took about a year to make this film happen. We really wanted to get this right so we took the time to really develop and plan how we were going to execute the film. I really got lucky and got wonderful people to collaborate with to make this film we are very proud of.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

I’d say two words I’d use to describe the film are love and grief. We wanted to tell a story about enduring love but at the same time they are grieving that their life together is coming to an end. This is why it’s so important to Julia to try to have a date night because she knows there won’t be many more to follow. Throughout the film Marc struggles to accept this is a reality, and he thinks that everything he can do to contain her energy like the wheelchair will save her. They are on the opposite ends of dealing with the inevitable and this to me is the main conflict of the film.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

We were lucky to have a pretty smooth production. Like I said we had great people working hard on the film, probably the most professional and dedicated crew I’ve ever worked with. The biggest challenge for me and I think for every production is getting the money to make the film. We did a seed and spark campaign where we were able to raise all the money we set out to raise but of course costs always come up when making a film so we had to do additional fundraising and put money from our own pockets to cover those. We really wanted the film to be as professional as possible and doing that on a low budget can be difficult but I feel like we accomplished that goal.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

My reaction to watching the feedback video was relief, relief that what we set out to do with the film was clear to the audience. I was moved by how moved the audience members that provided feedback were. And I was so impressed at how thoughtful all the comments were, the three members really took the time to give us some great feedback. When you make a movie, a filmmaker always wants to feel validated that what they put together will be enjoyed and felt by the audience so watching the reactions was extremely validating.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

I’ve wanted to make films since I was seven years old so this has been a life-long passion for me. To do this you can never give up on the dream so I’m going to keep working to get where I want to be.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

The film I’ve probably seen the most is MAGNOLIA which is my favorite film. That being said, there are a ton of films I’ve seen repeatedly but that’s the film that continues to astound me every time I watch it. So many thought provoking themes, great performances, great direction, it’s a movie to aspire to.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I think just continuing to support indie filmmakers like myself. This business is super hard to get into especially for people without connections in high places so it's very important that you continue to platform new films and filmmakers. Getting a film made is time consuming and costly as I mentioned before so getting it in front of an audience like you have really makes all that hard work worth it. So I say keep up the good work.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

It has been great and super easy to submit films to various festivals of all kinds. A solid platform for finding the right festival for your film.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Being Colombian, my favorite meal is steak, rice, Colombian red potatoes, and maduros. I know that’s a lot but that’s a typical meal I had growing up. Colombian food in general is my favorite food.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I think what’s next is to finally make a feature film. That’s definitely going to be a challenge but after making this short I feel confident that we can put together something at the same level. It will obviously have to be something contained with a practical budget we can try to raise. The next film will have similar themes of SING ME TO SLEEP but will likely be centered on Colombian American characters. There needs to be more Latin stories and as a Latin American I feel I have an obligation to make those stories.