Genre
Synopsis
I have been making movies ever since I discovered a dusty Hi-8 camera in my basement at the age of eleven. From my earliest movie-watching days, I have been frightened and fascinated by horror films. Horror shows off the power of movies to reach us on a visceral level. I’ve always felt that the best horror films, from classics like THE INNOCENTS and THE SHINING to brilliant newer works like THE BABADOOK use the genre to explore our deepest fears. One of my greatest fears is losing my mind – that which makes me, me. This is a universal human fear which we regularly see play out in our lives, as millions of us have loved ones who experience some form of dementia. I have watched my beloved, incredibly intelligent grandmother suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, which has steadily eroded her mind until she is almost unrecognizable. As a writer and director, I want to explore, grieve for, and give voice to our experience of identity loss, using my character Beverly Cross as our conduit. Although Beverly’s disease is well-advanced, she is in the painful stage of understanding what is happening to her. Through the story, she has an opportunity to reckon with her past before it leaves her completely.
SUNDOWN centers the experience of Safietou Sané, a West African home health worker who takes a job caring for elderly Beverly in her seaside mansion. African immigrants make up a large portion of caretakers both in private homes and nursing facilities, and their experiences delve into class and racial divides at a deeply personal and intimate level. I spent several months living in West Africa, immersing myself in the rich cultures of Senegal and The Gambia and seeing firsthand why people leave and why people long to return. Safietou forms a connection with Beverly as they both struggle to unravel the mystery of those repressed parts of Beverly’s past which start to haunt them.
SUNDOWN combines areas which are deeply personal to me, from the age-old repression of women, to the experience of an African immigrant tasked with intimate care, to the ravages of Alzheimer’s. Through SUNDOWN, I use the horror genre and an enticing, dangerous mystery to explore these themes.
Bio
Eve started making films when she discovered a video camera in her basement at the age of eleven. Her first feature film BRUT FORCE, a wine country thriller distributed by XYZ Films, is available to rent/buy on Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play and more.
She has backpacked solo to nineteen countries and visited twenty more. After graduating with a B.A. in Film Studies from Columbia University, Eve's twin passions for film and travel came together at New York University’s Tisch Asia program in Singapore, where she earned her MFA. Her thesis film Tether, shot on location in Guatemala, screened at film festivals including Palm Springs, Rhode Island, and Newport Beach. Eve is based in Los Angeles, where she spent several years assisting producer/director Rob Lorenz (AMERICAN SNIPER, MILLION DOLLAR BABY). She directs commercials, produces branded videos for BuzzFeed, has produced films for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women and the Alliance of Women Directors.
Eve's debut screenplay CALIFORNIANAS was an Academy Nicholls Fellowship Semifinalist and a Slamdance Screenplay Competition Semifinalist. Her Indian-American comedy ORIENTATION was an Austin Screenwriting Competition Finalist and was selected for the Women at Sundance Financing Intensive. She is currently developing and packaging several feature film projects as writer/director.
Awards History
Slamdance Film Festival 2022 - Semifinalist
Austin Screenplay Competition - 2nd Rounder
Credits
Director - Eve Symington
Director of Photography - Emilie Silvestri
