Rob Munday
An ambitious, boundary-pushing piece, Dumas Haddad’s Flowers employs a lyrical approach to explore the idea of what a black fairy-tale would look like. With the director setting out to “reimagine a genre in which a diaspora has been notably absent”, this is a poetic short with a rich aesthetic and strong heart – exactly the type of experimental filmmaking we love to champion on Short of the Week.
A whimsical story that follows a young prince as he embarks on a search for his one true love, we follow Flowers’ protagonist as he journeys from the safety of his family home and into the harsh reality of the outside world. Although Haddad’s film feels like a magical fantasy, the director told Short of the Week how his inspiration was very much grounded in reality: “The story originated from a personal place of reflection. Reflecting on the idea of childhood feeling warm and pure, whilst growing up, leaving homely comfort & exploring the wider world: you begin to unearth the world’s true face, tests and temptations. I was curious to explore this journey in a metaphor: so the idea of a flower starting off fresh and pure at the beginning and being in a jaded state by the end spoke volumes to me and felt like a spiritual anchor for the film”.
“My intent was for the work to elicit powerful uses of analogies and reframe the magic of a fairytale for a diaspora”
As is often the case with more experimental filmmaking, finding a thread that links to your own experiences is key in connecting to Flowers and the coming-of-age element in the narrative provides plenty of opportunity for basic reflection, while the depth of complexity in the storyline opens opportunities for wider interpretations. Though your takeaway from the film will very much depend on your own individual reaction to Haddad’s beautiful short, the one thing that doesn’t feel up for debate is how Flowers draws attention to the lack of diversity in fairy-tales and in particular, their cinematic adaptations. With the director explaining how he hoped to “reframe the magic” of this particular genre with an “afro-futuristic twist”, it’s a bold swing and one that creates a film with dual impact: Striking viewers first with its exciting aesthetic, before following up with a narrative full of heart and soul.
Featuring some stunning production design and eye-catching costumes, it would feel neglectful to not devote at least a paragraph to the aesthetic of Flowers. Shot on a Panasonic GH6 Lumix by cinematographer Olan Collardy (who has also worked with S/W alums Charlotte Regan and Thea Gajic), Haddad credits the camera’s sharp sensor combined with some Zeiss Super Speed Super16 cine lenses for helping create the “cinematic” looks of his short. The smoke machines, outfits and locations help to enhance the grand scale of the on-screen universe, while the mobility of the small camera meant it could get in close to the actors, amplifying the more intimate moments within the film.
“Our costumes for our prince and princess were all custom designs, with the idea of creating a distinct look and universe for our characters to live within” – Haddad discussing the importance of the outfits in his film
There’s a magical, ethereal feel to Flowers and while everything we’ve just highlighted adds to that, for me it’s the costumes that are the real standout element. Custom designs, created for Haddad’s film, the director reveals how he envisioned them “creating a distinct look and universe for our characters to live within” and employed an “intentional colour palette closely adapted from Disney films from ’30-50s”. A lot of thought has gone into every aspect of the filmmaking here and it shows.
With a string of Staff Picks to his name, Flowers is an exciting introduction to the work of Haddad, who is clearly an exciting filmmaker, with a distinct voice. Currently developing his debut feature, Fishbait, which the director describes as a “Sci-Fi/Afro-Surrealism/Coming-of-Age story”, he is also now in pre-production for a feature documentary titled No Place Like Home, which will explore “where home is for black diaspora in post colonial Europe”.
Both sound like exciting projects and we’ll bring you more news on these films, and the work of Haddad, when we have it.