The Fictitious Us
A woman looks into a camera.
Voiceover: I think our imagination is the most powerful tool we have.
Two women hold hands and spin outside the Eskenazi Museum of Art.
A woman laughs as she sits across from another.
She looks at the other woman while drinking coffee, clearly enamoured.
They appear on a picnic in Dunn Meadow.
Voiceover: There’s a saying: I imagine, therefore I belong
The screen flickers blue and in full color, showing the woman’s drawn face.
Voiceover: and I am free.
A closeup of a green pen writing.
The women laugh together outside.
The screen flickers blue and in full color, showing the woman’s drawn face.
Woman speaks to herself in the mirror: She’s consuming your every thought.
The women are in class. It is reality, and they are just classmates who do not know each other intimately.
Voiceover: The first time I saw you, it wasn’t anything special. Just your coffee, your green pen.
Closeups of them in class.
They dance outside.
The share coffee.
The woman talks to herself in the mirror again: As time went on, it’s just like you came out of nowhere. You’re obviously in love. I’m not in love. Obviously.
The color changes to blue again, showing it is fictional. They dance outside.
Voiceover: It is safe in my mind. I can picture this fictitious version of us.
Closeups of them together. The same scenes repeat.
Voicover: I watch us fall in love through little moments that I built.
The screen flickers blue and in full color, showing the woman’s drawn face.
Voiceover: And it’s building and building and I swear I can’t breathe when you’re around.
They sit in class seats apart. The pen drops, and they both reach for it. In slow motion, they look at each other and then part.
Voiceover: It’s like everything in my mind is flashing and screaming and telling me to say something. But you don’t know me. Not really. And that’s not your fault. I know.
A closeup of hands writing and reaching for books.
Voicover: I just I wish you knew.
Fictional scene of the two dancing plays again.
Voiceover: I wish I could just tell you so we didn’t have to pretend.
The second woman looks at the first.
They run into one another but don’t speak. The first woman walks away.
A colored scene of them dancing interlaces the reality of them walking to and from class separately.
Voiceover: I’ve always loved fiction, love stories. They promised me that when I grew up, I would find my match. It could be you. But I don’t even know you. And that’s OK.
The woman wanders in the library.
Closeups of each woman.
They plag tag and then chess.
Voiceover: Because of you, I was able to have glimpses of what that’s like. To fall in love. Heart flutters when you’re around.
The woman is seen alone reading in the park.
Voiceover: There comes a time when you must separate the reality from fiction. I need to focus on my own narrative. Because as much as I’d want to, I would never be able to control ours.
Black screen. Text: The Fictitious Us.
Credits roll. Text: Director: Madelyn Knight
Writers: Maeve Panich, Melanie Taylor
Producer: Melanie Taylor
Director of Photography: Brody McFadden
1st Assistant Director: Maeve Panich
Sound Recordist: Joshua Vanover
Grip: Morgen Ludwig
Camera Assistant: Katie Kerkhoff
Production Assistant: Hannah Madura
Editor: Madelyn Knight
Original Music Score: Brody McFadden
Cast: Isabella Bonanno, Claire Austin
“The Fictitious Us” is about a young woman realizing her imagination can teach her a lot about love and herself.
After their encounter, a young woman imagines a relationship with another woman. Her vivid, yet fictitious scenarios lead her through all the stages of the relationship she imagines they could have, like adventures, dates and the struggles she would have with this woman. A second encounter with the woman provokes the young dreamer to give herself the romance she wishes to have in reality, leaving fiction behind.
Director: Madelyn Knight
Writers: Maeve Panich, Melanie Taylor
Producer: Melanie Taylor
Director of Photography: Brody McFadden
1st Assistant Director: Maeve Panich
Sound Recordist: Joshua Vanover
Grip: Morgen Ludwig
Camera Assistant: Katie Kerkhoff
Production Assistant: Hannah Madura
Editor: Madelyn Knight
Original Music Score: Brody McFadden
Cast: Isabella Bonanno, Claire Austin
The film won Best Director in the 2022 Montage: A Celebration of Moving Pictures.