A new independent film is coming to the Dances with Films Festival later this month. A film that deals with anxiety, therapy, trauma, and maybe a little bit of magic. All of it culminating in the resilience found to face it all. “Mermaid’s Lament” is a film directed by GB Hajim (“Strange Frame“) and deals with concepts that lay very close to his heart.
The film follows the stories of two women whose traumas have shaped, or unshaped, their lives. Oee (Dayva Summer Escobar), is a woman plagued with the inability to speak after a traumatic incident. Apparently, Oee believes herself to be a mermaid washed ashore. But Therapist Dr. Nell Jamison, (Justina Mattos), attempts to help Oee regain her sense of reality. While also struggling from the trauma of losing her mother. Together, the two bond and find a place of understanding. Simultaneously, the movie supplies a broader narrative about the environment and society.
From A Very Personal Place
Undoubtedly, Hajim wants to take a special part of his life and share it with audiences. “My son and I have anxiety. Without medication it can be unbearable at times,” he says. “The one place we never feel anxious is in the ocean. We freedive with large sharks, whales, and dolphins…I found other people that deal with anxiety and trauma with ocean therapy, mermaiding, or freediving. Our production team gathered our own personal experiences with suicidal ideation, eating disorders, trauma, sexual assault, and anxiety to develop this narrative film to show a different side of this struggle and a different solution.”
There are more ways to deal with trauma than medicating. We think Hajim wants to bring the idea that there are alternatives to those who struggle. That medication and therapy aren’t the end-all be-alls. And that sometimes a return to the peace of nature can be the thing that grounds and balances. It sounds like a very interesting film that takes a broader look at the world through the eyes of a possible mermaid who’s never seen it before.
The Dances With Films Festival takes place June 22nd-July 2nd, 2023. “Mermaid’s Lament” premieres June 25th at the historic Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Get tickets and learn more about the festival here.
