HOV x Project Feel x Twin Vision

HOV Special Edition: SEEN

Many moons ago, I was chatting with a co-worker about how he wanted to create a production company. Fittingly and funnily, we stood in front of drones, cameras, and their respective accessories, waxing poetic about creation and big dreams and loving movies and premiers and writing and lights camera action— the whole shebang. I was so taken by his earnest excitement about making stuff from scratch and impressed that he had to clarity to express all of this so well when he was studying to be a doctor (spoiler alert: he never went to medical school). Knowing my obsession with reviewing and discussing media, he made me promise that one day when he released a film, I’d be there to review it. Well folks, cut to today, we have a short film to discuss. He now has a production company for real, I continue to insist on spewing my thoughts on the internet, and our brilliant mutual friend lit the final match that led to my inclusion in the press for the aforementioned short film. Thus, our respective pipe dreams of producing and writing in the same orbit has come to fruition.

And what an honor that is.

Before we get into my thoughts, some notes from the producers and film makers about their short-film, Seen:

At the start of 2024, Project Feel and Twin Vision Pictures, a loving filmmaking duo set to be married this September, co-produced an award-winning short film titled SEEN, a story about an aspiring young actor dreaming of higher success who finds himself battling his inner demons of ego driven pursuits and finding true fulfillment. Starring Ohio native Hector Sanchez Jr., who is of Puerto Rican descent, and directed by Christine Arquero, a Queens-born creative of Philippine and Puerto Rican heritage, this film set to be released to the public on March 6th on the Project Feel YouTube Channel is a powerful testament to resilience, self-acceptance, and personal growth.

The film opens with Hector’s nameless Character on the phone with a friend (clad in all Carhartt, by the way— it’s so funny to see how brands that were once considered utilitarian workwear have become such a staple in street style), congratulating him on an artistic win of some sort, while trying not to seem too upset about his own creative privation. As someone who studied musical theater in college (god, I’ve lived so many lives and to think I’m only 21) and faced my own demons of being genuinely happy for the success of friends while wondering “but when is my turn?” I felt particularly seen right out the gate (an aptly named project, proven mere minutes in). Impressively, so much is conveyed in a conversation where you can only hear one person. I knew that exact conversation. I’ve had that exact conversation. Everyone, creative or not, has had that exact conversation. I didn’t need to hear the other character at all to know exactly what was being said, and more importantly, what wasn’t.

From there, we watch as Character attends an audition, goes to therapy, sits in solitude, berates himself, tries again and again to convince himself that his artist pursuits will be worth it, despite the immense toll it takes on both his ego and self worth. Essentially, we try and watch him be seen. Soon, we arrive at a moment where joy cuts through the overwhelming self doubt. We see him in a sequence thats colored with elements of what feel to me almost like magical realism, that read like a reminder of why we artistic types like acting or writing or, in this case, movies at all (you’ll know the sequence when you see it). Because despite our creative endeavors often feeling like the last form of legal torture, deep down we know, nothing else would bring us greater joy.

On a technical level, the music in the film is beautiful (composed and sang by Franco Colon, which I knew immediately when I heard him singing over one of my favorite shots in the film, a shot of Character sitting in the shower, letting the water hopefully provide some peace and clarity just for it to make him scream), guiding us between tones of disappointment and wonderment as Character’s inner monologue seesaws between places to land. The cinematography is subtle and confident. Sanchez Jr. has both the acting chops to keep us in lock step with his journey and the movie star looks to hold both the camera and the audience.

The film reminds me of a Jane Schoenbrun movie, I Saw The TV Glow. “But Dillon,” you might ask, “what might a psychological horror-fantasy flick, riddled with allegorical allusions to the trans experience have in common with this short-film about acting?” Well, despite the comparable stylistic flairs, both films are about what happens to a person when something is so in sight but seemingly so out of reach. In TV Glow, the hope is to truly live in the identity you should be, shedding the one holding you back. In Seen, the goal is to truly succeed in the field you should be without losing who you are.

In …TV Glow, what actually happens is suppression. It’s failure.

In Seen, luckily, what happens is continuation. When you love something, you just keep going. Despite how soul crushing, you forge on, self-worth in tact. Wading through the waters of your own psyche is the most exhausting thing in the world but against all odds, it makes you a better person— and by extension, artist— to do so.

"And I don’t love it, right now. Maybe I never will.” Character says to camera, but really to himself. “One day, I won’t have this anymore. But I’ll still have you. Just you.”

Validation is temporary. Self worth is forever.

In the end, we really do have to see ourselves before our subconscious allows us to be seen.

xx Dill

Catch Seen here.

More about Project Feel:

Every decision made at Project Feel is built around humanity. Our vision is to foster a global community that produces radical art to better the human condition. We’re deeply aware that we are all connected and envision a world that is united through collaboration of art without ego, filling everything and everyone with love as we grow.

More about Twin Vision:

Twin Vision, composed of Christine Arquero and Hector Sanchez Jr., is a passionate filmmaking duo striving to create arthouse films that are genre-bending and explore the complexities of the human condition.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

PF Instagram: @project.feel

Twin Vision Instagram: @twinvisionpics

PF TikTok: @projectfeel

PF YouTube: www.youtube.com/projectfeel

PF Website: www.projectfeel.com