Lachlan Anderson-Schmidt
Remember Me
Grass
Sun
Touched by Light
Tree
You Found Me
Synopsis
After many sleepless nights, a father in the countryside follows the sound of bells and encounters the spirit of his daughter trying to reach heaven. He wonders what her life could have been like if she was still here. Watch here.
Director’s Statement
It’s a story we can all sympathize with in wanting to see or feel the hands of our loved ones again. But, it’s our desire and journey to be with our loved ones while they are with us that makes us grateful for their presence. Even if we have to let go, it is still a surreal feeling to think about the future of our loved ones and wonder what life would be like for them if they were still here.
The Father is lost and mostly isolated from everywhere. He is deeply connected with the land and is more or less one with it. There is a modified tilt-shift lens effect on him in every scene to isolate his point of view on being transfixed to finding his daughter’s spirit in this vast landscape he’s grown accustomed to. The spirit of his daughter wanders in the twilight hoping to find her way to heaven. The Father hears the bells chimes and helps guide her to the sound of the bells. He lets her move on to the afterlife and wonders what her future could have been like.
It’s an acid western film with a deep emotional connection. An audio-visual spectacle portraying the countryside of New South Wales. Despite my depiction of the story being the visualization of nostalgia, dreaminess, happiness, and grief; with no dialogue, the authenticity of the project lies within the minds of the audience. They have the freedom to interpret the story however they wish and can relate it back to themselves in their own unique way. The only thing for certain is “Only Spirits Can Follow the Bell.”
Lachlan Anderson-Schmidt is a writer, photographer and filmmaker from Yugambeh country (Gold Coast). His latest creation of “The Love and Lost Anthology Collection” is a collection of film: two short films Stay Inside (2022) and Think of Flowers (2022); two art films XERO SUGAR (2022) and Only Spirits Can Follow The Bell (2022). YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiTf7KysPnDyJs0MAsKf6Mg