In writer-director Medora Levy’s short film, Greener Pastures, losing a parent evokes very different feelings between two sisters.
It’s one year after the death of their mother and sisters Stevie (Jocelyn Shelfo) and Julia (Emma Starbird) must spread her ashes according to her wishes. Situated on the grassy field their mother took them as children to watch the clouds family issues quickly boil to the surface. Julia is put off by Stevie’s guarded and sour attitude about their mother’s death. However, Julia was clearly the favorite daughter as she reminds Stevie that she was the problem child their mother couldn’t handle.
“It’s one year after the death of their mother and sisters Stevie and Julia must spread her ashes…”
Greener Pastures is a touching and, in a way, cathartic tale about family and loss. Levy’s story shines as both a technical and emotional short film. Technically, it’s a challenge, and a tedious one, to tell a story about two people talking in a car. But the camera blocking enhances both the emotional and physical performances of Shelfo and Starbird. Their emotions range from anger to sadness to worthlessness and finally to empathy.
Levy’s Greener Pastures shows that there is much more to losing a parent than the expected feelings of loss. There is still a lot of baggage to unpack, and as children, we either choose to let it bring us together or tear us apart.
For screening information, visit the Greener Pastures official website.
"…there is much more to losing a parent than the expected feelings of loss."
