White Smoke, written and directed by Ana Songel, is a new Scottish short that explores the relationship of Alia and Evan, two damaged teenagers that are together for different reasons. Since his mother left, Evan lives a fun but unfulfilling life evading reality. He smokes all the time and likes to get himself into trouble in order to mask his feelings. On the other hand, Alia is an intelligent and serious person that repressed by her family decides to date Evan as a gate for personal freedom and rebellion. As a consequence, both of them get engaged into a fun but twisted relationship filled with passion and internal rage.

(EDITED: some screen grabs of the collected footage!)

Short Synopsis:

After a confusing party, Alia and Evan fall asleep embracing each other in a park. When she sees him next to her in the morning, she pusses him and leaves the park promising herself not to see him again. However, later on the same day Alia finds a strange necklace on her purse and remembers the events of the night before, being forced to meet Evan one more time.

The Project:

White Smoke will portray the complexity of young minds far beyond the dynamics of a normal relationship, dwelling into the innocent and bold nature of youth and its mixed and contradictory feelings. Through the theme of compulsion, the film will offer a fresh insight into the nature of love, showing that young relationships are not always composed by it and that they often struggle to understand the blurry element that makes them feel attracted to a person .

The film will use a strong visual reference in order to convey the beauty and toxicity of the relationship. The smoke coming out of a factory chimney in the path that Alia always crosses to go back home. The smoke is beautiful but toxic at the same time. It intoxicates you when you are around it without you even realizing about it, just like the bond between Alia and Evan. They live in a fun bubble that hides all the poison in which their relationship is based on, fear of not being loved and an internal rage based on the lack of freedom.

We believe that this is more than just a film, but an important project that we are truly passionate about and would like as much people to be a part of it. 

Where will the funds go?

Filmmaking is costly and unfortunately as students we cannot afford to cover all the costs of an ambitious project. That's where your help comes in. The money that is donated will help allow the film to express this important matter in a professional manner,  to allow the film to make a serious mark on the subject.

We want this film to be as evocative and authentic as possible and money raised will go towards: 

Camera Equipment: our University has provided us with with an astonishing ARRI Alexa Mini for shooting the short, but we need all of the necessary camera supports and accessories to get the best out of this little jewel! We are hoping to rent out a Easy Rig with a Serene wire, Tiffen Black Pro Mist filters, follow focus gears, etc...

Production Design, Wardrobe and Makeup: Costume and Set Design are critical to enrich the film with it's vivid atmosphere as well as feel of authenticity. Inspired by Blue Valentine, Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides these elements are key in order to achieve the final look of the film. 

Locations: White Smoke will be shot in different locations both interiors and exteriors. We will select the perfect setting around which the film revolves, but understandably, every great location comes with a cost. 

Travel: We need to fund the travel of equipment, crew and cast to and from various locations. But most importantly,  this cost includes the reimbursement of travel money for our cast.

Catering: Our days will be long and hard. Feeding a hungry cast and crew is necessary to keep our team happy and full of energy, with your help we can ensure that for all the talented people working on our set.

Festival Fees: Anything extra that we raise will cover extra costs and go towards the necessary fees to enter the film into U.K and International festivals, including promotional design materials, enabling it to reach a wider audience and provide voice to an issue that is more often than not swept under the carpet.

THE TEAM
We have a strong crew dedicated to make the best production possible:

Our Crew:

• Ana Songel - Writter and Director
• Anindya Widianto - Producer
• Luca Michelli - Director of Photography
• Sotiris Genatos - Editor
• Sarab Sahni - Production Designer 
• Daniel Archibald - 1^st Assistant Director

Our Cast:

-Rachel Still as Alia

Rachel is a talented actress based in Glasgow who has a strong background in screen and stage acting.  After seeing her play Alia for the first time we knew she was the perfect fit for the character!

-Ben Taylor- Muir as Evan

Recently, graduated in The MGA Academy of Performing Arts in Edinburgh, Ben has acted in numerous plays and commercials. With a natural acting talent, he´s more than ready to move from the stage to the screen!  

Music: 

Plastic Poetry, emerging indie/rock Glaswegian band, has also agreed to generously collaborate with us by giving us the rights to use one of their songs in the film. Check out the catchy, 'Where the Clyde Flows'. You won´t be able to stop humming it in a few days!

Support and Share!

We would be extremely grateful your help in making this film reach it's true potential and reach as many people as possible about this important subject matter. If you cannot financially back our project please follow and share our Facebook page and keep up to date with us. Thank you. 

Please help give this film the platform it deserves. Support  in the industry!

Thank you for taking the time to read about our project. 

If you have any further questions, please email: whitesmokeshortfilm@gmail.com

- The White Smoke Team -

MA Filmmaking

University of The West of Scotland