Labocine Spotlight statement from writer/director Lilian Mehrel: I am a writer, director and artist drawn to multiple ways of creating: multimedia illustrated books, fictional films inspired by real subjects, virtual reality poems, and artful comedies.
I was always a visual storyteller, raised on illustrated children's books. My childhood diary resembled a lab notebook for life, filled with scientific illustrations and detailed descriptions (especially of birthday cakes).
Childhood and improv comedy have shaped my playful creative approach. My work is often inspired by the mysteries of nature, neuroscience (especially memory), and connection. I see curiosity and experimentation/play in both science and art. Observe the world, record, interpret. Sometimes cry. Hopefully laugh.
haunt screenshot: Jomo Fray
A short virtual reality film about presence, experienced through the eyes of a ghost. She floats in the places she used to be, invisible except for the moments where someone looks straight at her (you), as if they can feel her presence. She dwells in her memories, watching her past self try to live in the present. Now she just wants to be there with the people she loved, hoping they’ll look towards her for a moment.
written & directed by Lilian Mehrel, shot by Jomo Fray, starring Lilian Mehrel & Eric Beam
haunt poster (Lilian Mehrel)
Instructions for haunt watching in 360 with Google Cardboard:
5. You’ll notice that the screen splits into two smaller screens
6. Insert your phone into Cardboard
7. Look around to view the video in 360 degrees (easiest if sitting on a swivel chair! Also turn volume on your headphones up.)
Go ‘behind-the-scenes’ of British nature show Ocean Discovery in this comic mockumentary about the search for the loneliest whale. Written & directed by Lilian Mehrel, shot by Ting Liu, starring Madeline Wise, Gabriele Schafer, Thomas David Scully
“A crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Memories and music reverberate around a man as he steams in a Russian bathhouse.
Each sad-eyed stranger he encounters shares some human experience — each sadness, some peace. Written & directed by Lilian Mehrel, shot by Fede Cesca, starring Ruisdael Cintron and Valerian Kirkitadze.
A playful 360 short: Wonder at the natural world. Created by Lilian Mehrel and Serena Parr, music by Eric Beam.
Opening titles for a spec TV show reimagining the history of the first female astronaut. Created by Lilian Mehrel
Spec commercials reimagined from footage for my short films
Grandmother creating hybrid fruits in Muchijoon: a Hybrid Story
Lilian Directing A Crack with Director of Photography Federico Cesca
Lilian T. Mehrel is an award-winning writer & director with a visionary sense of feeling and humor. Lilian’s films have premiered at Tribeca and screened internationally at Clermont-Ferrand, and her awards include ABC/Disney and HFPA. Featured in Variety, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, and The NYT, her body of work includes Water Melts, created with MG Evangelista and supported by Tribeca and Google, Musica Quarantena, created with Danielle Rhoda starring Elisa del Genio (HBO’s My Brilliant Friend), and The Loneliest, an Alfred P. Sloan awarded film starring Madeline Wise (HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm). She earned her MFA from NYU Tisch Grad Film, and her BA from Dartmouth with a Senior Fellowship. A mixed-ethnicity daughter of immigrants, she also authored/illustrated a family memoir and is a PD Soros Fellow. Lilian inspires audiences to laugh and cry with her funny, hopeful swirl of cinematic poetry. www.lilianmehrel.com
