An Award Winning Short Film by Ruth Maramis

My new blog pal, Ruth Maramis, wrote and executive produced “HEARTS WANT”. As I watch it for an enjoyable third time, I have some questions for her.

Resa – The location is fabulous. Tell me about it!

Ruth – It was in a historic, 100+ year-old theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA., that looks like it’s in Europe. It’s perfect as my story is supposed to take place in England. I set the story in a real place in the UK., a small cathedral city called Chichester in West Sussex, England (about a 1.5-hour drive south of London).

The following clip is 31 seconds long. Not necessary to watch it, but will add context to the conversation.

Logline: Two former lovers who reunite for a play by their terminally ill mentor face the consequences of a secret that could change their lives forever.

Resa – This would make a fab feature. Have you scripted it out as a feature?

Ruth – Yes I have written the full script, as the short was actually born out of a feature-length live script reading with actors.

Resa – As a feature does it have a happier (not necessarily happy) ending?

Ruth – The feature-length script has a hopeful ending, not a perfect ending tied with a big red bow, but it hints that Jacques and Lily are back together. Without giving too much away, it’s book-ended with a stage performance that makes the story come full circle. I envision the story as more than just a romantic drama but also a redemption story for Martin, the playwright whose voiceover is heard at the beginning of the short. He has a much more prominent role in the full story, and it’s he who brought Lily & Jacques together for his play, which is somehow connected to his past.

I love stories of second chances, as we all sometimes need a do-over and a chance to make amends. As a fan of stage performances, there’s something so intriguing about the world of theatre to set a story in.

Resa – The actors playing the two former lovers Lily (Sam Simmons) and Jacques (Peter Christian Hansen), are fabulous. Tell me a bit about them. I see Peter got a Best Actor Nominee  at the YES! Let’s Make a Movie Film Festival in Montreal.

Ruth – Oh, believe it or not, Sam is from a nearby town in Sussex, though I had met her here in Minneapolis at a film festival and she had just moved from England a year prior!! Talk about serendipity, there are actually a lot of crazy serendipitous things about my film project!

I met Peter for the first time at the full script reading back in January 2017, four months before we shot the short film! My friend Kirsten suggested him to me for Jacques, as they had worked together in a film before. Both of the leads were playing Jacques and Lily at the reading, and had such great chemistry. Everything happened so fast after the reading at my friend JoJo’s home. (She ended up becoming one of the film’s producers).

Peter is quite a prominent theatre actor here in the Twin Cities, though I didn’t know that until I met him. He’s been in so many local plays; he’s also the artistic director of his own theatre company, Gremlin Theatre, in St. Paul, MN. I’m grateful to have found such terrific actors for the short film. They truly brought my characters to life beautifully!

Resa – As a Costume Designer I must ask, why is Jacques wearing a 1940s pilot bomber jacket and Lily a headscarf?

Ruth – Ok so in my original script, the play that the two main characters reunite in is a 1940s WWII romance drama where he’s a British Royal Air Force pilot, so the costume designer found this RAF sheepskin bomber jacket we could rent from Guthrie Theatre (the largest regional playhouse in the country).

I wanted to give a subtle nod to Gregory Peck in Twelve O’Clock High (I had the biggest crush on him since Spellbound), even though Peck’s character in the WWII movie is American. If you notice that it looks a bit big on Peter Hansen (the lead actor) is because I had to find a jacket that would fit both him and the other actor who plays his character’s understudy, and that guy (Noah Gillet) has a slightly larger frame than Peter’s. Same with his pants, as I had to save cost by renting just one set of costumes instead of two, ha..ha!

As for Lily’s headscarf, because she’s a biracial woman with a large ‘fro. She often had to hide her black identity in the 1940s.

Resa – Tell me, why is Lily holding a suitcase in the “play”, within the short?

Ruth – The scene that appears in the short film is written as a farewell scene where the two lovers have to go separate ways, hence she was holding a suitcase. We decided not to include any dialog so it would not distract from the story of the film, if that makes sense. 

Resa – Total sense!

Hearts Want Streams on Prime

With a 15 minute running time, it is well worth the watch!

Resa – So, What’s next on the agenda for Ruth Maramis?

Ruth – I really enjoyed making short films, but at this point, I really want to focus more on getting HEARTS WANT feature film off the ground, as that is truly my passion project. I’ve done pretty much everything I could to get it developed, I went to AFM (American Film Market) in 2019 to try to pitch it to executives/financiers, did fundraising events, etc. but so far it’s kind of stalled. I know it’ll get made eventually, and I realize this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Click on the above banner and check out the HEARTS WANT website, where you can read more about it!

About Ruth

Her blog FLIX CHATTER has become my go to for new film reviews. Once in awhile she reviews a vintage movie.

She also participates in the 52 Films By Women challenge as per Women In Film organization. The basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within the course of one year. Share about the films you’re watching on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word.

Recently Ruth attended the Twin Cities Film Festival. Along with her many reviews of the films thereof, she had the opportunity to interview Daisy Ridley and Tom Bateman on their psychological thriller MAGPIE.

P.S. Tom Bateman is one of the actors on Ruth’s dream list to play the lead male character in “Hearts Want” feature. As the story is set in the UK, she’d love to get British actors for the lead roles.

Big Thank you to Ruth for joining me today, and to all who have taken the time to read!