Amali
An honest glimpse into a 13 year old’s world
Directed by Ruby Harris
Directed by Ruby Harris, Amali takes viewers on a heartfelt journey through the eyes of a 13-year-old, during a summer road trip through rural Aotearoa. Sparked by a therapist's challenge to craft something truly meaningful, this captivating short captures the raw, unfiltered essence of youthful friendship grounded in trust and shared dreams.
There's something about the short film Amali that stole our hearts. It's a reminder of what friendship feels like when you are younger, of a purity without any agenda, based on trust alone. Can you tell us what inspired you to direct the film?
My therapist at the time asked if I had 10 days left, what is one film you would want to make? This was it. As you can see in this short, I think Amali is amazing, smart and inspiring and I want the world to know.
It was the last holiday we had together before I moved overseas and I wanted to make this piece as a time capsule of our age & luck of being both family & best friends.
The overall vibe feels quite spontaneous. However, being able to do so skilfully is no easy task. Can you share what your approach was as a director, especially when it comes to locations and shots choices?
The holiday came first and the film came second. Locations were spontaneous. I booked one campsite and the rest were stops on the sides of the road, sneaking into campgrounds and running around with a handycam and my digital camera filming eachother. I drew a shot list on the plane and we got the small amount of shots I planned; in the car driving, running through a field, out the back of the van, cooking dinner, swimming, running with a spotlight & horses.
Despite the apparent care-free nature of the short film, the dialogue carries a certain element of worry about the future and what's to come - be that the structure of our society or what our planet has to endure. Is this something you expected when you crafted the questions for Amali?
I think the questions reflect her age at the time, the fear and the excitement. Being so wise and so young all at once. I had some questions in mind going into it; biggest dreams, if you had a younger sister what would you tell her, what are you most proud of & if you had to change one thing about the world what would it be? The rest just came from staying up late chatting everynight as we had no reception and didn't know many card games.
“It was important for me to not turn it into a narrative piece because I didn’t want to put any drama into such an intimate, playful and inspiring portrait.”
The editing obviously plays an important role in maintaining the balance between the lightheartedness of being 13 and the awareness of the issues that we are facing. What was your approach in striking that balance?
For the edit Nadia Darby (editor) and I worked together, she created the beautiful daydream-like sequences and I wrote out each topic to find our favourite order to create this piece. Because we were making it as a passion project there was no deadline so we got to enjoy taking our time with the edit to look through all possibilities over a few months. It was important for me to not turn it into a narrative piece because I didn't want to put any drama into such an intimate, playful and inspiring portrait.
As an up-and-coming director, where do you see your future?
I am so excited for my future whatever it brings. I can't wait to tell more stories, stay grounded in who I am, learn more & work with people who inspire me. So far so good!
Starring Amali Addai
Directed by Ruby Harris
Edited by Nadia Darby
Composition by Jess Penson
Sound design & mix by Mara Schwerdtfeger
Color grade by Karol Cybulski
Grade by Cheat
Post Producer Callina Pearson
Graphics by Freya Morgan