EPITHUMIA
COMING SOON IN 2025
Film trigger warnings: Bloody depictions, reference to cannibalism.
The Story
Used in the versions of the Bible when discussing the Eucharist, the Ancient Greek word Epithumia (ἐπιθυμία) means ‘a strong desire’ or ‘longing’ for something or someone. The feeling has also been described as a ‘craving’ and “a desire for what is forbidden”. This, in conjunction with an exploration of literatures frequently used ‘cannibalism as a metaphor for love’, becomes the core of Eden and Florence’s relationship within the narrative.
Eden is captivated by Florence when she attends an on-stage Q&A about her latest poetry work. When they bump into each other at a bar afterwards, Florence reveals that her writing gives her an understanding of her innermost thoughts. Intrigued, Eden asks if she can show her something she’s never shown anyone. The voice in the poem Florence shares craves an equally weighted and healthily obsessed kind of love, shown through a sequence of biblical and cannibalistic imagery. Eden asks if this is what she wants for herself, and she answers, “all art is an admission of desire”. Later, after Eden walks Florence back to her hotel, she confesses that she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the poem. The two admit that they want to keep it between themselves, and after many lingering moments, Florence asks Eden if she would like to stay with her. Eden agrees, then repeats a line of Florence’s poem back to her, and finally asks if she will let her be the one to give her exactly what she desires.
The Characters
Eden’s deepest desire is to give someone the opportunity to experience exactly what they yearn for themselves. She is instantly captivated by Florence and is strongly driven to find out how much her words truly speak to her true innermost feelings.
Florence is a newly successful poet who is outwardly sure of herself and does not shy away from calling out those who misinterpret her deeply personal work. When she meets Eden, she melts under her quiet confidence, and it soon becomes the first time she has met someone who completely understands her on such an intimate level.
The Making Of
Epithumia was Olidora’s largest production to date. Over the span of 4 shooting days, this film was brought to life using 4 different locations over Manchester, including hiring a hotel room, a university lecture hall, and having full access to Manchesters own Sandnista’s bar in St Annes Square for a full day of location shooting. Previously only working from the spaces MMU provided and Wren’s own apartment, the logistics of taking a full set of equipment around the city played a much bigger role than usual, and luckily with a team of experienced individuals, this experience was seamless.
Directors Note
It is almost impossible to find the words to describe the love I have for Epithumia. As Erin and I have plans for narratives and characters we aim to create in the future, which we have already fallen in love with, Epithumia allowed us a little glimpse into exploring exactly that. Having developed the characters of Eden and Florence for a few years within narratives not yet public, Epithumia created a space for these characters to come alive after living on paper for so long. Knowing both Rosie and Maia for a while before shooting, we knew their personalities would contrast each other in the same way we had developed this character dynamic. I allowed the pair to fill rehearsals with their own requests and needs, as picking up the script as and when they needed prompted the pair to build an extremely tight and trusted emotional and physical connection first which I believe completely pays off in the final hotel scene.
As the director, it was important for me to only ask my actors be involved with scenes I would also comfortably place myself in. When developing the Eucharist scene, I knew it would require Maia’s character thrashing around whilst Rosie acted out eating areas of her body. With this being an intense concept to create, I chose to put myself in Maia’s place, and short films have strict filming deadlines, it was more important for me that she focused on developing her character for the ‘real life’ narrative. This also gave me the chance to get closer to Rosie, and by default, the rest of the crew, as creating that safe space on set even for myself was just as important to replicate here.
If I am able to replicate the experience we had with Epithumia again, I would count myself lucky. This film made me step into the direction of truly becoming the director I want to be, and for that I cannot thank everyone enough, and I hope to see many of you again during our bright careers. – Wren.
Full Credits
Eden played by Maia Gibbons
Florence played by Rosie Walker
The Interviewer ‘Richard’ played by Harry Woods
The Eucharist Disciples played by Wren Fry, Carla Polistina, Erin Clark, and Mia Hughes
Extras: Wren Fry, Carla Polistina, Erin Clark, Zara Gallimore, Christofer Cano-Gahona, Isabel Abbot, Lucy Haslington, Fay Tuasikal
Wren Fry as Maia Gibbons Body Double
Directed by Wren Fry
Written and Produced by Erin Clark
Cinematography by Christofer Cano-Gahona and Levi Holton
Colour and Edit by Wren Fry
Sound recorded by Erin Clark, Fay Tuasikal, Lucy Oliver, Zara Gallimore
Sound Edited by Wren Fry and Charlie Henry
Music Composed and Arranged by Carla Polistina
Script Edited by Joshua Faires
Locations Manager – Erin Clark
Olidora Productions 