DAY OF WRATH - DEN HNEVU

7:43 min, 2024​

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Created in collaboration with CET FAMU film program in Prague.

 

A young girl, bored in the house learns to express herself through the paintings left behind by older generations in her family.

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This film was made as part of a study-abroad program at the Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The stipulations to the program restrained us to only three days of shooting with 20 minutes of film.

 

Religious paintings pulled from across time periods guide the narrative. Drawing from the traditional Catholic paintings in my great-aunt and uncle’s house as well as the intricate churches I explored during my semester in Prague, this film was inspired by my fascination with religious imagery. Anna, our main character, is able to lose herself in the beautiful paintings of an older generation in her world of play-pretend. It is through imitation that she is able to connect the pain in these paintings to a struggle we can all understand: spending a boring afternoon being chastised by your mother.

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written & edited & concept: Leyla Mandel
written & directed: Melissa Romberg
directed: Thomas Grahling
dp: Stephen Cullina

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Arriflex 435

kodak V3 500T 35mm film

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winner best Student Film - the Fine Arts Film Festival (2025)
official selection - Massachusetts Film Festival (2025)
honorable mention - Experimental Forum (2025)