Are You Awake?
Narrative | Director + Writer + Editor
Thanks for watching!
After a fruitful year of festival screenings, which garnered multiple nominations in genre, acting, editing, and cinematography categories, my narrative film Are You Awake? has secured online releases with Short of the Week, Directors Notes, and Film Shortage!
Critical Reviews:
“Are You Awake? masterfully turns the theme of loss into a thought-provoking psychological thriller.”
“5 Stars: An astute psychological drama that depicts routine dread with precision”
“Top notch visual storytelling and solid performances help shape this short into an eerie and unsettling experience.”
“Keeps the audience guessing long after the end credits have rolled.”
“A dark, brooding foray into the realities of being an imperfect being.”
Interview: Director Gabriel Caste On Exploring Grief & Pointlessness In ‘Are You Awake?’
“Are You Awake is fucking amazing!”
SELECTIONS
ONLINE PREMIERE:
Short Of The Week // Directors Notes // Film Shortage
WORLD PREMIERE:
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
SELECTIONS/NOMINATIONS:
FilmQuest - Nominee: Best Cinematography (Ian Coad) and Best Editing (Gabriel Caste)
Indie Shorts Mag - Nominee: Short of the Year
Next Generation Indie Film Awards - Nominee: Best Actress (Ellyn Jameson)
Blood Bash - Nominee: Best In Show and Favorite Actress (Ellyn Jameson)
Nashville Film Festival
Beverly Hills Film Festival
French Riviera Film Festival
Catalina Film Festival
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival
Tallgrass Film Festival
Benson Film Festival
Hollywood Gold Awards
Kaaffilm International Short Film Festival
New York Indie Shorts Awards
Cannes Indie Shorts Awards
Hollywood Shortsfest
“Every day is the same.”
In this psychological thriller, Dale (Ellyn Jameson) is a detached woman who earns a living by waking strangers up in the morning. She spends her day making house calls, after agreeing to stand-in for a colleague. Dale enters a patient's house, and is unsettled by the mess she finds. Bradley (Paul Archer) explains he’s been plagued by nightmares, and refuses to get out of bed. Though Dale feels obligated to convince him otherwise, she can’t help but form a pitiful kinship with the man paralyzed by his own dreams.
Are You Awake? is a deeply intimate story following a person who no longer sees the point of it all. With sprinkles of sci-fi and mystery, the film highlights the dread of staleness, the impact of a bad idea, and the role of companionship in a world weary to step outside.
Watch the trailer now!
CREDITS
Director/Writer/Producer/Editor: Gabriel Caste
Producer/Color: Alex Exline
Producer/Production Design: Lauren Caste
Director of Photography: Ian Coad
1st AC: Joe McNairy
2nd AC: Ly Tran
Gaffer: Giovanni Palacino
Key Grip: Nestor Valenzuela & Christopher Grajales
Hair & Makeup: Diahann McCrary & Kimberly Werner
Production Sound: Ethan Carling
Original Score: Paul Sim
Post Sound Mixer: Cody Peterson
VFX: James Poirier
BTS: Tyler Costill
Starring:
Ellyn Jameson
Paul Archer
Begine White-Klein
John Wilcox
Kelley Poling
Charles Noland
Tien Vu
Sydney Kilroy
Martin Lino
Tevin Harris