"The Tragedy of Her" 

*OFFICIAL SELECTION OF THE 2009 MID-ATLANTIC BLACK FILM FESTIVAL 

*OFFICIAL SELECTION OF THE BLACK HOLLYWOOD 16th ANNUAL AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM MARKETPLACE & S.E. MANLY SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

SYNOPSIS:

After a couple's second year in an undefinable relationship, the woman professes her love to her man and questions their future together. He expresses his reluctance to committ, but when she falls ill, he begins to realize his love for her because he's in danger of losing her. Does his realization come to late?

CAST: 

CORNELIUS SMITH, JR AS "MAN"
NEDRA MCCLYDE AS "WOMAN"
ISAIAH JOHNSON AS "MINISTER"

FILMMAKERS: 

WRITTEN, DIRECTED, SHOT, PRODUCED, & EDITED BY EMILIANO STYLES

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: 
Shondrika Moss-Bouldin, PhD
Nyakya Brown
Kibibi Dillon
Shondrika Moss-Bouldin
Tamilla Woodard

ORIGINAL MUSIC BY:
Lando Cornelius
Emiliano Styles

STILL PHOTOGRAPHY BY:
Tiana Mandrigues

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT - 
My Grandmother Ernestine Moss was the strongest women I’ve known. She died February 5, 2007 from cancer. She was 97 years old. She beat cancer twice before developing it one final time. She did not start developing cancer until she was 86. I think the love my family showed her gave her the strength and the will to fight to live. She used to affectionately call me “my boy”. She knew she was loved. Family and friends visited her often. She was rarely in her house alone.
On the other hand, I was in love with a woman, still in love with her. We even talked about marriage a couple of times. I was only 21, a senior in college, and I didn’t think I was ready for such a life-altering commitment. The more we grew apart, the more I realized how much I missed what we had, and could have had. Unlike the love and gratefulness I showed for my grandmother, I didn’t treat the woman I loved the same. I took her for granted.
The two aforementioned life experiences above inspired me to write the short film “The Tragedy of Her”. I wrote a story of a couple in an indefinable relationship. The man takes the woman for granted, until she succumbs to a life-threatening disease. I wanted to show people that you should never take the ones you love for granted. Whether that love be romantic or otherwise.

This movie was shot on a SUPER shoe string budget with a bare bones skeleton crew. As a whole, this film definitely has flaws, but if you look through these flaws, factor in my limited resources, I think you can see my potential as a filmmaker.

Thanks for watching! This is just the beginning!