The Girl, The Lamb, and The Man Short Film

What is The Girl, The Lamb, and The Man?

The Girl, The Lamb and The Man is a short drama, about a 15 year old girl who flees her family home with her pet lamb in an attempt to escape her ongoing familial warfare. Cast out to the rural southern landscape, she uproots the boundlessness of her own rage, placing her at a dangerous cross road with a local boy racer.

The story deals with how the cyclic nature of domestic abuse ruptures the relationship between mother and daughter. It is about female rage, and how that rage has the ability to alchemise into a desire that shows The Girl, there is a whole life outside of the cycles of abuse she knows all too well.

Why are we making The Girl, The Lamb & The Man?

We are looking at a story we know all too well in Aotearoa regarding Domestic Violence. The exploration through writing this film revolved around the cyclic nature of domestic abuse, mirroring a key question that plagues the issue itself  - What is the way out? The complexity of domestic violence and its relationship to intergenerational trauma makes it an ever-present issue in our society, which in this film is being looked at through the lens of a 15 year old girl in rural Otago. 

This story isn’t offering an answer on how to dismantle cycles of abuse, but it is looking at how it acts as a catalyst that fosters a wildness inside of The Girl. This wildness allows her to harness her rage and eventually desire. We are shifting the narrative away from the abuser, and searching for the gold. The gold within the transition between rage and desire where self reclamation lives. A form of empowerment available to all that dare to desire MORE. 

If hope is the light at the end of the tunnel, desire is getting to hold the burning torch. It is about placing the power back in one’s hands, to remind a young girl of the sheer heat of her fire and the brightness it emits. This is the gift we want to impart.

Why do we need your help?

This film is currently largely self-funded. With the help of the Dunedin City Council and our Script to Screen mentorship we have been supported throughout the script development process, but to bring this film to life we need your help. The money we are asking for will go directly towards our production costs. This includes gear hire, kai & koha for our hard-working crew, travel expenses and post production.

Who are we? 

Jacinta Compton and Millie Cossou are both Aotearoa based emerging artists and filmmakers. Jacinta trained as an Actor at Toi Whakaari and Millie is Head of Production at Infinitum Studios. They both grew up in Ōtepoti where the film is based.

It takes a village to bring a film to life and your support is deeply invaluable. So much so, we cannot do it without you. To our fellow artists with the same financial fragilities we face, your allegiance is met with so much gratitude. To our community, friends and family that get behind us to help us bring these stories, characters & places to our screens, we thank you so much. Arohanui 🖤