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Logline

A father and son in tornado country find themselves in parallel dreams, chasing the eye of a storm they fear holds a troubling family secret.

Synopsis

Tornado is a short film divided into three interlocking fragments. The first follows Ian, a ten-year-old boy living in rural New Mexico, as he spends a day at school with his friend Jeff, who tells him an ominous secret about an historic tornado that ravaged their town. The second fragment finds Ian’s stepdad, Pete, in a diner, recounting a story/dream he had the other night to his friend Tom. The dream details a late-night drive through the desert, where he meets a young woman, the Blue Lady, who promises to tell him a secret about an impending tornado. As they wind further into the night, Daisy reveals to Pete that his stepson also knows about the tornado, and more importantly, that he knows about Pete’s history of violence. The third fragment highlights the Blue Lady, Daisy, as she prepares to play a punk show at a DIY venue in downtown Albuquerque. As Daisy plays her song, she laments her experience with the tornado, and with men like Pete, resulting in a cathartic release of anger and anxiety.

Meet the Filmmakers

​​David Connor – Writer/Producer
​​David Connor is a screenwriter and novelist living in Montreal, Canada. His debut novel Oh God, The Sun Goes is set to release with Melville House in August 2023. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) with an MFA in Writing.

John Fairchild – Director
John Fairchild is a filmmaker originally from Newark, Delaware. He studied theater at Princeton University and film directing at USC School of Cinematic Arts. He has key roles in multiple award-winning shorts and features, including Dance with Death, On the Clock, and Voodoo Macbeth. His screenplay Betty in the Sky was a quarterfinalist in Screencraft Feature Competition, Shore Scripts Feature Contest, and Austin Film Festival Feature Script Competition 2021.

Matthew Shoichi Wilder – Cinematographer
Matthew Shoichi Wilder is a Tokyo-born cinematographer based in Los Angeles. He has photographed numerous commercials, music videos, and short films including Magnolia Bloom, which was selected to premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. Matthew is a graduate of Columbia University and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. He recently completed production of the feature film Phantom.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.