Over the past couple days, sleeping has not been an option for senior Iris Sullivan. Spending all night in the editing suites, she’s turning her own heartbreak and personal experiences into a series of short films.
The short films, titled "About Paris," are meant to represent all types of relationships in an open letter to a boy named Paris, Sullivan’s first love and the collection's inspiration.
“I did a lot of processing and I just had so many feelings and emotions," Sullivan said. "I went to make something that showed those feelings."
Sullivan hopes to use her own first hand struggles to make a positive impact on those going through their own personal hardships.
“One of the pieces is about self-love, and the audio is dialogue of the girl hating herself and just saying how she’s ugly and how she prays to be anorexic," Sullivan said. "And that’s everything that I thought."
Sullivan cast Elon theater majors to portray her own emotions on screen.
“This entire film is me," Sullivan said. "It’s different people portraying different situations, but the feeling is still there and ties back to me."
Sophomore BFA acting major, Carmine Burdi, says the role took him out of his comfort zone. In order to film a scene, he went to an Elon party as if he was his more promiscuous character.
“That is not the type of person that I am at Elon, like just go to a party and see this guy and start making out with him out of nowhere," Burdi said. "It was so interesting because I see it happen all the time, but it’s not the person who I am, so it was fun to play the other side”.
The Paris of "About Paris" plans on attending the premiere.
“He’s really nervous about it, but I told him, the film is about you, but it’s not about you," Sullivan said. "It’s about the whole world being in unrequited love with someone.”
The premiere is tonight in downstairs McEwen, room 013. There will be showings at both 7:30 P.M. and 9 P.M.