The Wind and the Whimpering 34 min, 2021
dir. Laurence McManus
dir. Laurence McManus
Toad (Arlo Carter) lives on the marsh with his uncle Newt (William Wolfe Hogan). By day he sifts for gold, up to his knees in the water and mud. Each evening he returns to their cabin to enjoy the bowl of mush that Newt has lovingly prepared for supper. Despite their familial routines, Toad and his uncle are far from comfortable. The monotony of his work has dried out Toad’s taste for homecomforts and he thirsts for an escape from the malaise.
“An impressive fairytale lives in the heart of this film – one produced with a great sense of style, tone and texture.” - Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards (London, UK) Winner of Best Short Over $5000 & Best Director, Summer Edition 2021
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Best Short & Best Scenography International Symbolic Art Film Festival (St. Petersburg, Russia), Aug & Sept 2021
Finalist for Best Short Film, Rome Independent Prisma Film Awards (Rome, Italy), Sept 2021
Nominee Hollywood International Golden Age Film Festival (New York, USA), July 2021
Nominee Naples Film Awards (Naples, Italy), Sept 2021
Official Selection High Tatras Film & Video Festival (Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia), 2021
Finalist for Best Short Film, Rome Independent Prisma Film Awards (Rome, Italy), Sept 2021
Nominee Hollywood International Golden Age Film Festival (New York, USA), July 2021
Nominee Naples Film Awards (Naples, Italy), Sept 2021
Official Selection High Tatras Film & Video Festival (Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia), 2021
Visual Statement
The tone of the marsh is layered with an idyllic, impressionistic shimmer akin to oil paintings. Close ups reveal texture, the mud and the grit. Camera lures us with hues of deep green, browns and exotic heron egg turquoise, down into the captivating turpist allure of life and decay. We therefore fluctuate between the two worlds of daily repetition surrounded by the wild and curious unknown. Evenings at the cabin are wrapped in a chiaroscuro of candle light and safety, where all anxiety can be put to rest until inevitably the two will seep through and collide.
