Altruist (2019)

Winner of the Best Windy City Short Film Award 2019 at the Blow Up Film Fest / Chicago International Arthouse Film Festival. Will Jacob win Lily's heart in this disheartening love story? In Altruist, filmmaker Darren James is telling a love story, a non-traditional, non-linear love story. Where classically you'd see our lovers like two ships passing in the night, our filmmaker asks the question, what if our lovers met on the operating table? One coming and one going? And they meet under the needle, in a dream realm, in a different subconscious. What would that look like? This is a love story told through the storyline of organ donation, which our storyteller uses as a metaphor, to symbolize the experience of falling in love. This of course has all the best elements of a love story: passion, sacrifice, death, and betrayal, compassion, love, and even some nudity. A small part of Lily's backstory is filmed with 16mm film, to show his love of cinema. Also as a nod to the history of cinema, Lily's backstory is told in the style of silent film. Our two main characters, in the dream/subconscious realm, will find different challenges as they try to work together to become one. One will be Jacob's ego. Another will be Lily's future. The stakes are high in this love story: if they can come together, and leave behind their single versions of themselves, they will become united in this tale of organ donation and sacrifice.