A Dream Of Paper Flowers Synopsis
A Dream of Paper Flowers is a poetry film and a soundscape steeped in allegory, a capsule of femmy horror, unnerving and captivating. It is a glimpse into the raw, jagged coals of the female psyche.
A Dream Of Paper Flowers was an official selection of the 2017 WVN Online Film Festival (not in competition).
About the Filmmaker
Leila Jarman is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, and visual artist working at the intersection of women’s rights activism and media. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she completed her BA in Political Science with an emphasis on Middle Eastern Studies and philosophy in 2009 from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City.
Her works have screened at film festivals, galleries, and museums including the TATE Britain, Ars Electronica and her films have been featured on media outlets such as VICE and The Creator’s Project. Voice of the Valley, her 2009 documentary directorial debut, followed the professional career of two self-made Muslim women journalists and their struggle to overcome social and cultural barriers to produce the most important social, political, and economic radio program in Jordan. She speaks Farsi and Portuguese.
Director’s Statement
A Dream of Paper Flowers is an experimental short film using poetry, subtitles, musical soundscapes and a hybrid of puppet and sculpture as visual narrative device. The film opens on a grotesque but feminine creature; a hybrid between sea slug and otherworldly creature. With every sound it makes, it is attempting to recite a poem, which appears in subtitles at the bottom of the screen. With every stanza, the creature transforms, growing flowers from its back, growing breasts and shedding them, etc. With each shed, the noise of the creature’s voice also transforms until what is left is a naked girl, delivering the last line of the poem.
