“No Room to Grieve” By Jendo Shabo
Synopsis
Healthcare workers are heroes, but they’re still human. “No Room to Grieve” explores the trauma that nurses endure to help others, and the lasting impact of PTSD.
Directors statement
Before working with the Ontario Nurses' Union on this project, I had no idea the kind of chaos nurses deal with on a daily basis. With video being the most effective method to convey information with emotion, my goal was to portray the horror stories I heard first hand in an immersive, grounded experience that will hopefully help people empathize with rather than blame healthcare workers.
Authenticity was key. After discussing the idea with healthcare professionals and victims of PTSD, I decided to model the film’s structure and techniques after the symptoms.
PTSD attacks are unpredictable. They can happen anywhere and anytime – even a nice, comforting shower can turn into a living nightmare. In this film, we watch Emma suffer from a dissociative disorder known as depersonalization - derealisation. It’s as if you’re watching your thoughts, feelings, and memories from a distance with no power or influence on what unfolds. Reality falls into a weird, dreamlike haze where time is fluid, it can slow down, speed up, reverse, just as unpredictable as the whole attack in the first place.
Sound plays a key role in the film’s storytelling, as her realities begin to blur and the attack takes over. It lets you feel Emma’s focus shifting. The constant clash of running water and surgery makes it hard to predict when or if Emma will get control. Eventually, the calming water is overtaken and distorted by the sounds from her traumatic event – failing to resuscitate a dying child, the liquid from his bleeding wound being another trigger.
Visually, I wanted to immerse the viewer in Emma’s world right away, the first shot opening the door and inviting them in. Much like the sound, the intro’s unorthodox use of quick fades to black represents Emma’s shifting focus, trying to break or blink out of the traumatic memory before it gets worse. The moments of complete darkness in between each shot helps create the same unpredictable nature of PTSD attacks.
There’s so little dialogue, and none from the main character, that I wanted the visuals and sound to help carry the storytelling load. The final piece was the music. I was lucky to work with Andrew Seguin and Marcello Morle to create the score. It captures the looming feeling of dread Emma feels in the beginning, just before the attack takes hold. When the shots begin to speed up and the surgery begins, the music becomes bombastic, repeating, and unpredictable - perfectly complimenting the film’s pacing all throughout.
Credits
Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer - Jendo Shabo
Producer - Susan Sommerdyk
Associate Producer - Michael J. Krym
Music - Andrew Segun & Marcello Morle
RN Emma - Samantha Lillian
Patient - Liam Roberts
Code Team Leader - Jo-Dee Brown
Code Team Physician - Carol LeClair
Code Team Recorder - Sandy Kravets
Code Team Member - Kathy Roberts
Respiratory Therapist - Kitu Turcas
EMS Paramedics - Shawn May, Ryan Cloutier
Voice Over - Peter McLeod, Susan Sommerdyk, Jo-Dee Brown
Makeup & Special Effects - Melissa-Rae Windover
Still Photographer - Rachel Fitzgerald
Sound Engineers - Jendo Shabo, Marcello Morle, Stiven Agoubi
Production Assistants - Maia Milo-Ledoux, Stiven Agoubi, Angelo Morle, Rachel Fitzgerald, Marcello Morle, Andrew Seguin
Client - ONA Local 8
Production Company - Helios Films
“No Room to Grieve” was submitted to us by Jendo Shabo. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!