Moon Garden (2023)
Director: Ryan Stevens Harris Run Time: 96 min. Release Year: 2022
Starring: Augie Duke, Brionne Davis, Haven Lee Harris, Maria Olsen, Morgana Ignis
Country: United States
Language: English
About the film:
Winner of Best Cinematography at the 2022 Nightmares Film Festival.
When a little girl has a terrible accident and slips into a coma, she finds herself thrust into a darkly surreal industrial dreamworld. Haunted by a nightmarish specter that feeds off her tears, she must follow her mother’s radio-static voice to find her way back to consciousness.
Shot on expired 35mm film stock with vintage rehoused lenses, Moon Garden (2023) is a fantastical odyssey and a visionary, handcrafted, and fully practical work of art that shows how a child can shine light even in the darkest places.
“One of the most extraordinary and exciting cinematic experiences of the year”
About the filmmaker:
Ryan Stevens Harris is an award-winning filmmaker, editor, and exhibited artist. He grew up in North Carolina and Ohio, never far from the red glow of his mother’s dark room, sketching on his drawing board and inventing stories. Following his passion for the arts, he studied filmmaking both in London and at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, where he co-founded Fire Trial Films, a boutique production company focused on 35mm production.
In 2016, Harris directed Whisper, an animated music video for the indie band Playing to Vapors featured at the SXSW Film Festival. Multi-talented, Harris edited and sound-designed the Lionsgate sci fi blockbuster, Moonfall (2022), as well as edited a host of Netflix releases including 2307: Winter’s Dream (2016), Darc (2018), and The Hard Way (2019). He also cut Watchtower (2019), which was nominated for two Emmys and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and was an additional editor and sound designer on the war-epic Midway (2019), which was #1 at the box office upon its release.
He considers Moon Garden (2023) his first true directorial debut—a lush dark fantasy odyssey with highly stylized art design, shot on expired 35mm film with vintage lenses and featuring his own real-life daughter.