“At Dawn the Flowers Open the Gates of Paradise”

working title “Blankets of love”

WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Elzbieta Piekacz

13 minutes, B&W, 16mm, 25 fps, 1.85, English, DCP, UK 2017

WEBSITE
https://blanketsoflove.wordpress.com/

TRAILER
https://vimeo.com/225616678

WORLD PREMIERE
The film will have its premier during the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival as part of the Main Programme: “Shorts: Dream Images”

AWARDS
The script for the film was awarded a Special Mention at the Milano Film Festival in 2016

CONTENT OF PRESS KIT

Synopsis..………………..…2
Director’s Statement..………3
Cast & Crew…….……..…..5
Director’s Bio….…………...8
Contact……………….……9

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 SYNOPSIS (SHORT)

“At Dawn the Flowers Open the Gates of Paradise” is a short drama film, which tells the story of losing yourself in the feeling of love.

Akiko works in a central London hotel as a housekeeper where she finds refuge in a personal project. She is taking photographs of the hotel guests used bed
sheets, which like sculpture printed by peoples sleeping and sleeplessness from the previous night. When she hears that the love of her life - Oskar has married,
she builds from her photographs a kind of cocoon; an altar, on which she lies down, holding a ritual to free her spirit from the world which she cannot be
reconciled.

With the dawn of the next day, from Akiko’s open window; flies a white butterfly...

SYNOPSIS (LONG)

“At Dawn the Flowers Open the Gates of Paradise” working title “Blankets of love” is a short drama film, which tells the story of losing yourself in the feeling
of love, which everyone can identify regardless of culture, religion; the island you come from. “When you love obsessively, you lose the sense of self-identity
and if you lose the object of your love, you have no resources to fall back on; It can completely destroy you.”

Akiko (30 years old) originally from Japan but adopted by British parents works in a central London hotel as a housekeeper. She is isolated, connecting with
people only through the belongings in their rooms, observing them through the window. She has never shut the door of the past, she is still waiting for a sign
from love of her life - Oskar (40 years old) that he wants her back, but he has abandoned her for another woman. Akiko finds refuge in a personal project - she
is taking photographs of the hotel guests used bed sheets, which like sculpture are printed by peoples sleeping and sleeplessness from the previous night. When
she hears that Oskar has married, she builds from her photographs a kind of cocoon; an altar, on which she lies down. Sounds of the stories come from the
photographed sheets and from one, the confession of betrayal by Oskar appears. Akiko holds a ritual to free her spirit from the world, which she cannot be
reconciled. She believes that after that, they both, along with a baby who died at birth, will meet again. In the last scene Akiko goes along the hotel corridor.
She passes opened rooms, which are stages of her life. In the last room her parents sit. Akiko snuggles up to her mother's abdomen, finally she enters a light-
filled room.

With the dawn of the next day, from Akiko’s open window; flies a white butterfly…

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 DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

My first inspiration to write the screenplay was from working in a London hotel. I was fascinated by the illusion of that place and the disjointed worlds of
employees and guests. Hotels as a "Tower of Babel", the intersection of people on the way from different parts of the world in “Hotel-city” that is London on its
own. The hotel rooms as metaphorical images of the subsequent stages of life, to the greatest mystery, the mystery of the end. The beds as a vehicle through all
our life. The bed sheets themselves like shrouds, reflecting the most intimate moments.

I was questioning as a writer, the ability to write a character from such a different culture but I realised that the most important aspect for me is to tell the story
of an emotional drama someone who is different “a stranger everywhere”. Like Stalker in Andrei Tarkovsky’s film of the same title, one of my film
inspirations. Tarkovsky explained in one of his interviews: “I’m interested in a hero that goes on to the end despite everything. Because only such a person can
claim victory. The dramatic form of my film is a token of my desire to express the struggle and the greatness of the human spirit.”

In the initial stages some of the inspiration came from poetry: “Barren Woman” by Sylvia Plath, “Sand and Foam” by Kahlil Gibran. Also a short story:
“Numbers” by Olga Tokarczuk. From the very beginning I knew that I would like to use a voice-over of Akiko’s inner thoughts. During the writing process the
inner narrative spine which helped me give a base rhythm for the entire film came from a drama about another obsessive love in “Crave” by Sarah Cane.
Finally, for the film I used Haiku poetry by Saimu, Kobayashi Issa and Matsuo Basho. I was inspired by Haiku because it is like a draft which records the
current state of a piece of the world in the most complete way. "As in the Zen paintings where individual particles of the universe: a tree or a flower, or even
just a leaf, exist alone in a white and empty space; Haiku describes this world in the shortest and the most exhaustive way – the simple, clean beauty of an entity
that is going to disappear. Its sudden understanding is like an awakening; allowing us to rise to the higher level of being and to accept the reality with peace,
without haste, with a certain resignation."

My idea was to work with people sharing same aesthetic, build “kind of family” for this and my next films. I invited people who I had met in London and had
gone through a transition in their life and gave them the role in the film as a challenge. Creating a crew for my film already felt like directing connecting all
those words together.

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I felt, I already had the main actress whose presence was inspiration for my script and I decided to continue with rest of casting the same way; following my
intuition by using people who I already knew. Working with non-professional actors as did Robert Bresson - another director like Andrei Tarkovsky who
inspired me and whose films also “resembled prayer” with “style created films of great passion: Because the actors didn't act out the emotions, the audience
could internalise them.”

The location was to be as important as the actors. I was treating my location - the hotel same way like casting actors. I felt it is very important like a “living
hero”. I realised that all story should happen in one place from where Akiko cannot escape like a butterfly in the jar. Initially I was looking for my location in
many places then I realised there is only one place where I want to tell this story. That I have to express my gratitude to the city witch embraced me 12 years
ago - London. I was considering a few hotels but realised that I couldn’t have any artistic freedom in them. The solution came if we created a hotel which not
exist. Suddenly I realised that Brunswick House - where our production designer worked part-time is our hotel and is building with a story on its own; now an
antique shop located in Vauxhall, like an island surrounded by new built, investment, empty skyscrapers.

In the film we used a traditional Japanese folk song "Sakura Sakura”. In last scene Akiko hums this song, then Shakuhachi, a Japanese flute joins her; they
become one. During the writing process music inspiration for the film was “Madame Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini. The butterfly instead become an
important element; the main character saw herself as a Madame Butterfly and also she was looking after a butterfly with broken wings. I first thought to use a
real butterfly but I realised that it was not possible in winter, when we was shooting, so it was decided with production design to build an animated model of a
butterfly. Like butterflies that cover Akiko’s silk kimono which she wears in the last scene of her liberation. I realised that writing about costumes helped me
get a deeper perspective on my character and her stages of transition. Akiko’s uniform as a housekeeper was based on a Vilhelm Hammershøi painting, an
inspiration also for the story board.

From the beginning I wanted shoot on film, in B&W, using an Aaton Super 16 mm, 3x4 Aspect ratio, which I felt to be the best frame to tell a one-character
story. After receiving the test, I made the decision to shoot straight on B&W. I wrote to my DoP and producers: I saw the B&W test and it absolutely proof of
my intuition, to shoot in B&W. The beginning of the story and the core are analogue B&W stills with one existing as a prop through entire film, the ending is
what we want to finally achieve: a print on film in B&W. Grain on the film adds a natural texture, like the structure of butterfly wings.

Still photography played another important part in the film. Photography inspiration are by Eva Rubinstein and Sophie Calle. I used my experience as a stills
photographer and decided to use the camera still with no movement. The lack of film stock meant “editing in camera”. Long takes cut only motivated. I was
analysing scene by scene with my DoP “Ida” by Paweł Pawlikowski: “Shot in deep, glowing monochrome, with the camera completely still for all but two
scenes, “Ida” is a study in expressive silence and composure.”

The sound design idea came with adding during editing process circle frame - called Zen circle in painting. The visual idea came from fascination of test
footage cuts. Then Japanese windows came. The main characters felt in this frame like a pinned in butterfly. Same with sound design the pinhole idea of sound
in mono open into surround with her liberation.

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 CAST

Akiko: Shun Yin

Akiko’s VO: Yuriri Naka

Oscar: Marcin Wilhelm Unold

John: Joseph Sebastian Appleby

Mother: Lucrezia Walker

Father: Alan Walker

CREW

Writer/Director: Elzbieta Piekacz

Producers: Cait Lyn Adamson

Ronen Eldar

Assistant Director: Graham Hilleard

1st AD: Ronen Eldar

Director of Photography: Agnieszka Szeliga

Gaffer: Antoine Billon

1st AC: Cameron Ward

2nd AC: Franco Volvo

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 Still photographers: Chelsea Gallagher

Honorata Karapuda

Sound recordist: Andrew Rowe

Sound designer: Martin Lumsden

Sound mix: Martin Lumsden

Production Designer: Graham Hilleard

Art Directors: Phoebe Berardi

Chelsea Gallagher

Production Design Assistants: Sining Wang

Sean Dale

Costumes: Graham Hilleard

Megumi Uenoyama Barrington

Shalini Adnani

Make-up artist: Aki Miyanishi

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 Editor: Kamil Dobrosielski

Colourist: Nicholas Scott

Film process: CINELAB London

“Sakura” on Shakuhachi: Harrie Starreveld

“Sakura” song improvisation: Yuriri Naka

Haiku poetry inspired by Saimu, Kobayashi Issa and Matsuo Basho

Web designer: Michal Bialozej

Poster designer: Graham Hilleard

Title: Heeyoung Pyun

Credits: Kamil Dobrosielski

Crowdfunding Campaign Coordinator: Dobroslawa Switalska

Interior and Exterior locations courtesy of LASSCO Brunswick House

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 DIRECTOR’S BIO

My first touch with art was via theatre when I was studying at the Wroclaw Theatre Academy in Poland. I was expressing my sensitivity by the language of film, as an actress and
also present on the other side of the camera; Working as an assistant director, camera operator, screenplay and adaptations co-authors. I received Best Actress Award for “Double
Portrait” at the 20th International Koszalin Debut Film Festival and the film was awarded during the 26th Gdynia Polish Film Festival and received Pegaz Prize for best film.
After spending four years on a film journey through Asia and I started to take pictures and when I returned to Warsaw, I decided to deepen this knowledge at the European
Academy of Photography. I moved to London which become my home and embarked on a long-term film project called “HOME”. I have been a student of MA filmmaking at the
London Film School and my graduation script “At Dawn the Flowers Open the Gates of Paradise” working title “Blankets of love” received a Special Mention from the Jury in
Milano Film Festival. The finished film will have premiere during the 72nd edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival as part of the Main Program: “Shorts: Dream
Images”

A Special Mention from the Jury for script - Milano Film Festival
http://lfs.org.uk/content/lfs-graduate-elzbieta-piekacz-blankets-love-milano-film-festival

A Special Mention from the Jury for script - Milano Film Festival
http://lfs.org.uk/content/christmas-comes-early-filmmaker-piekacz

“Experimental Cinema” an article by CineWomen Art Review magazine

https://issuu.com/cinewomen/docs/cinwom_iss1516_jan_16_art_cinema/68

Kinoeye about “Double Portrait”

http://www.kinoeye.org/02/18/horton18_no1.ph

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 CONTACT

elzbieta.piekacz@gmail.com

https://blanketsoflove.wordpress.com/

http://instagram.com/elzbietapiekacz

+44 07809334321