Women Suicide Season

Lost young IT guy Simon runs away from his mother and other challenges to live a lonely but independent life in a camper on the banks of a river, but his escape from one woman leads him to three others who, one by one, attempt suicide until he saves them.

Lost young IT guy Simon runs away from his mother and other life challenges to live in a camper on the banks of a river, doing nothing but what he loves: fishing and sleeping. But in early spring, the number of female suicides rises, and Simon faces three attempts of Women Suicide Season. He feels compelled to save them, which ruins his long-desired privacy. Marta, a burned-out paramedic, becomes Simon's friend and teacher, despite his initial hostility. Slava, a fisher-girl, is about to shoot herself over the loss of her father. Simon falls in love with her but still lacks the determination to make a serious move. For Olena, a young pregnant woman abandoned by her boyfriend, Simon develops a strong desire to protect her, seeing her as the younger sister he never had. Their transformation is not easy for him or for the suicidal women, but it does lead to bitterly ironic situations between them. Simon's unexpected compassion allows these women to heal and it grows into his skin.

Keywords: coming of age, loneliness

Director's note:
Women Suicide Season is a story about the uncertainty and indecisiveness that drive a young, intelligent man into the life of a hermit. The protagonist Simon hides from his mother and other difficulties in a pseudo-comfortable, carefree world of fishing, but fate challenges him with three suicidal women who cannot find a way out of their problems and pain. These three women symbolise the stages a protagonist has to go through in order to grow up and become responsible and decisive. The first woman makes Simon realise that the world is much bigger than he thinks and makes him question whether this is really the life he wants. The second woman is the first serious relationship, a symbol of a friend and a wife, who gives Simon freedom and happiness, but also tests his willpower. She almost succeeds in bringing him out of the "comfortable shell" in which he has locked himself, but he still does not have the courage to return to the city with her. The third woman is much younger than Simon, she arouses his older brother's feelings, he wants to protect her, he is ready to take responsibility for her, at least for a short time, and this completes his transformation. He realises that if he doesn't save her, he will be left alone in the camper forever, and he is not happy about it. This invaluable experience has transformed Simon into a qualitatively different person, ready to meet his mother and, more importantly, to face life as it is. As well as helping Simon to change himself, each of the women has a difficult story to tell that has brought them to the river. Simon doesn't just save the women, he plays an integral part in their transformation.

Important symbols in the story are the long silk scarf of a dead woman he catches while fishing, which condemns him to the Women Suicide Season; the willow tree that keeps hitting the windows of his camper with its branches, as if calling him to come out of his "shell"; and a man in a boat, as an image of the father he never had, whom Simon spies on, either out of curiosity or envy. Another important part of Simon's transformation is the same terrible dream in which he tries to fix something from the past, not quite understanding what it is, and constantly failing.

In order to tell this multi-layered story, I have chosen to use irony because I believe that it will allow me to show the problems the protagonist faces on his way to the transformation most clearly, and it is also the most appropriate for the way I see the world. To emphasise this, I plan to build the visual style of the film so that the colour scheme of the scene is the opposite of the mood of what is happening. A perfect example for me is the work of the 20th century Japanese artist Kawase Hasui. I'm struck by how much sadness is hidden in these brightly coloured prints.

This story came to me in the form of a picture in my head - a young, handsome man sitting alone by the river fishing, but his eyes are full of sadness. I wondered why he was so sad, why he had driven himself into hermitage when he was just starting out in life. And then I realised: he is so typical of my generation. The generation of people who quickly become disillusioned with life because everything is just a click away, the generation of people who often become narrow-minded professionals but rarely entrepreneurs. The generation that closes in on its own little worlds. Living in Ukraine during a large-scale war, I meet many of these young people, who are even more confused and just want to hide from everything, like Simon in his camper. Through the women who come to end their lives and whom Simon saves, I want to show that we can be healers for each other and that it is worth having the determination to face life and not to hide from it.

Producer's note:
I was immediately drawn to a project with a promising title and tagline: "Women Suicide Season - a coming of age story of the 27 y.o. boy", and was charmed by a charismatic author with an amazing vision and energy, who has the power to tell stories on difficult topics with delicacy, sad irony, and love. During the pitch, where we met, she made me feel lonely in a room filled with people and promised a film that would inspire me to become a better version of myself. Being a millennial, I was excited to make a film about Generation Z from the Generation Z director, to explore our future ruled by young adults, raised by overprotected parents, and constantly hiding in their "shell" under the sad irony of the real world. This project raises questions about the true value of life and the level of courage and bravery required to live consciously and make simple and complex decisions every day. In Ukraine, we say that the first 40 years of childhood are the most challenging of a man's life. And in our story, we tell that it needs to have four women, a camper, and a river to make a responsible man out of a young adult.