Watch Previous Festival Films!
Chasing The Vein
Sheffield Shorts 2020
Documentary
UK
Interview with director Serena Chloe Gardner
Firstly, tell us about the film and what inspired you to make it?
My ethos within Secret Garden Pictures has always been about giving a platform to people and stories that don’t often get heard. Lyn (the subject of the film) is my step-mum and I have always wanted to give her a place to tell her story and this felt like the right medium to do this. As you will see from the doc, Lyn has a BIG personality and has lived through so much yet is so wise because of it.
What was it about Lyn that made you decide to document her in particular?
This came about at a time in Lyn’s life when she was looking back on the events that had triggered her into a path of addiction – the forced adoption of a child when she was very young – and Lyn had mentioned to me about wanting to find her. So I thought this might be a nice way of letting Lyn explain her story and where she is now and see if this could help.
I’m happy to say Lyn was reunited with her daughter just after the film was completed. Love a happy ending!
Do you feel that people who have overcome addiction are, perhaps, not given enough of a voice on screen?
Oh for sure. I think often people suffering from addictions and bad mental health tend to fall into a path of being invisible.
Their hurt and pain is of equal measure to our own but we cast them aside as ‘wanting’ to live like this, when usually a life event triggers this lifestyle into happening. With a drug like Heroin being so powerful, it’s tragically hard to withdraw from it effectively without more help and public services. I made this doc because I wanted the audience to see the whole person, not just their addiction and what they can achieve beyond it.
Finally, what are you working on next? Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?
We’re actually in development, working with the lovely Fizz & Ginger Films as our mentors, on two features. The first one is called Six Weeks of Summer, a punk rock coming of age tale and the second is a horror called Black Annis.
