The Dawn Chorus

Bonnie and Lloyd Bukowski drive through the night to a cult ritual site with seat numbers 17C and D tagged across their chests. It's been seven years since a Pan Am flight crashed and killed their parents.

Each year Bonnie, Lloyd, and the other survivors return to the site to simulate what happened, to commemorate and to try and heal wounds. When they discover this will be the last ceremony, Lloyd clings to the ritual more desperately than ever. Despite his pressure, Bonnie resists, determined to forget about it and move on. On their final surreal journey through the wreckage, they face their memories, their fears and, as dawn break each other’s differing views on how to deal with what has happened.

It took a few minutes to realise what an earth Hope Dickson Leach was getting at here. In a film of barely 15 minutes, surrealism isn’t always the best option. The message wasn’t particularly clear and the surrealist imagery obstructed the short narrative too much to make it a credible piece of work.