Story
A spacious apartment on the third floor is the only one with the lights on. Clinking glasses, chatter, and laughter. It’s a classmate reunion. They are going to hang till dawn, just as they did on their prom night. And it all goes well until people start disappearing without leaving a trace.
Director's Statement
This is not supposed to happen in your twenties. But your friends disappear from the world for good. Life goes on, as they say. And you keep pretending you’re alright. But people leave traces in your memories and your reality — an open piano, a half-empty glass, or just a spin in the air.
This film is based on a metaphor. I attempt to shift the abstract psychological terms of loss and trauma into a physical domain, making it as sharp, sudden, and absurd as it feels when you experience it. This metaphor has one problem, though. It’s no longer a metaphor, at least not in my country. In the era of globalization, technology, and science, an entire generation of young and talented people is being erased at a terrifyingly rapid pace.
Instead of travels, parties, food, cats, marriage proposals, and graduations, my social media feed turned into an endless obituary. Still reeling from the previous loss, I must now face another one. This is not supposed to happen in your twenties.
"Before Dawn" is extremely autobiographic, and not only in a general sense of what the people of my generation are going through. I also depict the places where I lived, describe my teenage photos, recite the words that I heard, and remember people I used to know.
Every detail is there for a reason, and I want it to resonate with the audience.
ROMAN SOLONYNKA
The film is dedicated to the Ukrainian photographer Roman Solonynka, who was killed in action on May 5, 2022.
Roman was born on April 8, 1980, in Zhytomyr. He was a talented designer, photographer, and also my friend. In February 2022, he chose to protect his homeland and volunteered to join the army. At the beginning of May, he was killed on the front lines. Roman managed to realize only one solo photography exhibition before the full-scale war broke out. It was one of his big dreams and life goals. So, I made it my mission to bring that exhibition to life again inside my short. Together with our production designer, we printed high-quality copies of his artworks and incorporated them into our story. The artworks you may see in the film are from the "Salut Richard" project, which explores the behind-the-scenes of the Ukrainian jazz community.
