Director's Statement

FilmNews

	It started with chocolate. Too much chocolate. After finishing a research appointment at the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I set out to create a short film exploring my research work. I wanted to tell a story that would bring to life issues in digital living which affect us all: the online-offline journey, online choices, technology as a socializing tool, and more. I thought a movie would be a good way to address these themes, but more importantly, to be a starting point for a conversation – a way for us to place our respective gadgets aside, and together - with no filters - learn, talk and share, how this new layer of technology changes the way we connect to each other.

	I was in Israel, and with my travels, life, and chocolate, found myself a few pounds north of my normal weight. It was time to get back to my evening jogging routine. Then during my runs, I would always pass through what is known as the ‘wedding-street’ in Israel. Over a 4-mile stretch, are wedding dress stores, wedding accessories, wedding shoes and more wedding dress stores. Here brides are hunting for their dream dress, trying to find 'the one' in a sea of choices. I thought that the designer-bride relationship would be a good framework to look at the online-offline dialog, and of course explore other themes in digital living and contemporary love, all with a group of women that find themselves at an exceptional point of choices in our society: a fresh backdrop to discuss modern living, as the wedding gown designers practice one of our most ancient traditions.

My mission was to find designers in Israel and Palestine that had something to say about their wedding universe. Women that could provide a contemporary look at the life-partner concept, act in front of a camera, and at the same time were entrenched in technology themselves (web, cell phones, instant messengers, Twitter) as part of their always connected way-of-life. During the pre-production process I met, interviewed, and shot many designers in Tel-Aviv, East and West Jerusalem, Ramallah and Haifa, kissing many frogs until assembling my amazing cast.
Stylistically my goal was for the film to feel intimate, where the audience is falling in love with these designers, trusting them to navigate us through these questions, and making them accessible to us as we explore them in relation to our own life, our own choices. This film addresses universal themes that transcend race, religion, color and geography, regardless of where you live: be it Philadelphia, East Los Angeles, or Ramallah we all need the basics: we all want love, forgiveness, and, of course, chocolate.

-- Grace Shulner Cambridge, April 2010