WEIRDO
A collaboration with Apple Creative Studios and Fully Focused
Weirdo reflects on the sense of belonging we have with ourselves, whilst feeling like an outsider. It creatively explores the relationship we have with our identity, and the effects of social anxiety. It asks the question: How do we connect with others when we cannot connect with ourselves? Weirdo dramatises this reflection, venturing into surrealism to express it. It is a cathartic and emotional piece that is about accepting our uniqueness, and the importance of staying true to our authentic selves.
STARRING
India Jean Jacques as Alma
Samira Teymouri as Lavey
Victoria Nwaesei as Senta
Shannon Lassanga as Lennon
Yasmin Idris as the hand double
CREDITS
3D, Director
Martina Amoretti, Producer
Interview with
the director and producer
by Layla Mahmood
“This journey of going deep inside yourself and facing all the shit. That's where the most growth comes from. These painful experiences.”
3D, moniker for the director of the short film Weirdo, made in collaboration with Fully Focused and Apple Creative Studios, delves deep in his musings about the film. The prompt given by Apple CS was to explore the theme of belonging: filming it entirely on the new iPhone 13 Pro Max. Where some might consider the external world or community when thinking of belonging, Weirdo shifts our gaze inward, enquiring into the sense of belonging we have with ourselves.
The film is an impressive four-minute story, following a non-binary character named Alma. They are spending time with friends during an ordinary summer day, but it quickly becomes apparent Alma is experiencing anxiety. They feel displaced in the social setting, misperceiving their friends as talking about them behind their back. The scene powerfully captures what it feels like to experience social anxiety and panic attacks, which can colour the world in negativity and doom.
The ‘flight or fight’ moment looms during Alma’s increasing anxiety attack, almost as if the bubble is about to burst. What follows is a surrealistic journey into their mind, where we witness Alma encounter an alien doppelganger version of themselves: Tas, a.k.a “the authentic self”. It is a moment of surrendering to your true self that, even though suppressed, will always find an escape.
“I’ve always been fascinated by this concept of having a doppelganger and the idea of meeting a version of yourself”, 3D confides. “In the past you may have hidden certain aspects of yourself that you now embrace and love. But imagine there is a situation where the version of yourself that has hidden those aspects of your identity meets with a version of yourself that has embraced those things. And how powerful that situation will be for you?”.
There is a sense of something deeply personal yet universal about the film. 3D expresses his own relationship to it: “It's very much based on my own experience of escaping parts of myself. It was actually really healing for me to make this film. I remember a few years ago, when I started making films, the toxic school environment I was in made me feel like making films was weird. And that's where the word ‘weirdo’ comes from. Now I find the word weirdo such a compliment. I almost feel like saying you’re normal is an insult”.
He wanted the film to be as fluid as the main character, being open to diverse interpretations. This mutability of meaning was what drew creative producer, Martina Amoretti, to the script: “What I loved about the story is that it can address so many different problems and issues. It could address race or religion, or even gender. It can be about anything and that's the beauty of it; that it doesn't just target one aspect of identity but acknowledges the diversity of people”.
For Martina, it was an expression of gender identity: “When I read it, I felt connected to it because I’m non-binary. So I saw a non-binary character out of nowhere and I thought, ‘you know, we can really create something beautiful and we don’t have to constrict this character to anything, it be can be completely fluid’. 3D really liked my interpretation, saying that's exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted to create a character that is fluid, kind of encapsulating different meanings depending on who's watching the film”.
“Many people on the team really connected with the script, viewing it as a coming out story”, 3D notes. “This is a story that isn't prescriptive to my meaning. That’s why I wrote ‘discovered, written and directed by 3D’. The word discovered is used because I don't feel like I created this story, I feel like I discovered this idea”.
The ending portrays hope and personal growth. Alma and Tas (their authentic self) become a single entity. They are embraced by their friends, and feel connected, like they belong. Perhaps expressing that when we embrace our true selves that is when we can truly connect with others and feel a sense of belonging.
Martina and 3D feel privileged to have the opportunity to create this film, commenting on how tough it can be for creatives to break out into the industry. 3D remarks: “For young creatives to have this space where there is that innate creative energy within us, that can be accessed, expressed and celebrated, is just so powerful. It’s so needed, these little pockets of creative energy. The whole team was just so great and so supportive. There needs to be more of that in this world. I'm so grateful to the universe for Fully Focused and Apple Studios”.
Martina adds: “The moment I saw this advert online I felt very hopeful as a young person who is trying to get into the industry. It felt like someone was ready to give you a small chance. To try and do something with your time. And improve yourself. It's helping you and giving you a strong sense of purpose and it's giving you faith in yourself”.
