A short film by Joe Giacomet
Written by Ben Moor
UK · 2026 · 12 minutes
Comedy
Berndan is making a documentary about people who make documentaries.
He meets Samanda Longe, director of The Lonely Streets, or: The Five Stages of Grief as Applied to Missing a Bus, shot in black and white at bus stops in Peckham. She is pleased to be taken seriously. She is less pleased that Berndan is filming from the moment she opens the door, examining not only her film but also everything else in the flat.
What follows is denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Not all of it inside her film
Cast
Screenings
Festival premiere and screenings to be announced in 2027
If you'd like to show Stages please contact joe@giacomet.co.uk
Saskia Rothstein-Longaretti
Ben Moor
Charlie Parker-Swift
Director’s Statement
Grief is the bit of life you don’t get in the sales brochure. And it comes in stages.
Ben Moor is a long-time collaborator and one of my favourite actors. He mentioned a script he’d written for a comedy series over a decade ago and then binned. Buried inside was a small, weird section. I thought, that’s funny. It had to be made.
We built three films folded into each other, and DOP Rik Burnell gave each one its own format. Samanda’s film is 16mm black and white, Berndan’s is mini-DV, and the film that weaves them together is Alexa 35.
Each world has its own colour too: Samanda’s flat is acid yellow, Grance’s office is money green.
By the end they’re all beaten up, and we can’t help but empathise with them, flaws and all.
Joe Giacomet
Cast
Berndan Mordant · Ben Moor
Samanda Longe · Saskia Rothstein-Longaretti
Grance Deferred · Charlie Parker-Swift
Office Assistant · Saryina Hashmi
Key Crew
Director · Joe Giacomet
Writer · Ben Moor
Producer · Debbie Carmichael
Director of Photography · Rik Burnell
Production Designer · Nuha Mekki
Costume Designer · Cat Costelloe
Editor · Hettie Griffiths
Audio Post Company Mcasso
Original Music · Richard Atkinson
Sound Design & Mix · Tom Martin
Grade & Finishing · Company 3
Colourist Gareth Thomas
Poster Design · Mark Denton
Features “Shame” by Bibio and Dorian Concept, courtesy of Warp Records.
Details
Running time: 12 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Shot on: Aaton 16mm (black and white), Canon XL1S (mini-DV), ARRI Alexa 35
Certificate:
Contains scenes of moderate disappointment.
Please contact joe@giacomet.co.uk for more information on the film or to show it.