Feelings, Friends and Favourable Outcomes
Like many talented artists, Ben has walked a path less travelled with an astounding sense of self-identity and joy, which has come with a long-standing drawback; being misunderstood. "My queerness and being a person of colour has affected relationship[s] over the years and I hadn't spoken up about that much."
For his most personal project Grapes, Gauze, and Unexpected Guests, Ben drew upon the struggle he’s experienced when sharing his truth with old friends to portray how he wished those conversations went. “I had to say it. I couldn’t sit with these thoughts and emotions anymore. It started to eat away at me.”
To obtain the vision he sought after, he needed a bigger crew, a top-notch cast, and a powerful script to work off of. The stakes were high, but Ben took on the challenge. “I recognized how important it was to whittle (the story) down to the important parts. The D'Angelo character really lets his thoughts be heard, and there are a few moments of silence after that hit quite hard. The crescendo of the film is really why I made it.”
Grapes, Gauze, and Unexpected Guests has now finished its festival run with a collection of awards and festival selections across the globe. Recognition is always lovely, but connecting people together has been the bigger accomplishment in Ben’s eyes. “There are some style choices that I’ve grown out of (since shooting Grapes), but I think there are a lot of tonal choices that I’ve found while making Grapes that I have settled into and will bring with me into future projects.”
May 30th, 2024
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