Sleep While I Drive

[MisaelSine]

Hello everyone,

My name is Misael Sine, and I am a Finnish-Indonesian film director. I am currently figuring out how to make my first feature film.

In Finland, this process can be especially challenging, particularly for someone without a film school background. Film school was my plan A. In 2019, during my third attempt, one of the interviewers encouraged me to just start making films. But young, insecure Misael didn’t listen. I applied twice more, desperate for their approval, but I still couldn’t get in. Then, in 2022, in Redding, California, a spark of confidence struck me like a thunderbolt, and for the first time in my life, I believed I would become a film director and make movies—even without film school. There had to be another way.

So, I started taking the steps—writing scripts in my free time and applying for every fund I could find. A few years passed while I focused mainly on commercials and music videos, but eventually, it was time to go all in. Still without traditional funding, I had to find another way. That led my friend Janne Amunét and me to start a company. We spent our first year doing commercial work while developing scripts and concepts, then invested everything we had into a film idea we both believed in. With Janne’s lead, we wrote the script together with Tuuti Piippo in a month, made countless calls to get people on board, and began planning the shoot.

Inspired by Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash approach—creating a short film as proof-of-concept, which then led to funding for the feature—we decided to follow a similar path. Our feature-length idea, Sanctuary, wasn’t financially feasible, so we created a short film that stands alone but also serves as a proof-of-concept for our first feature. The short film, Sleep While I Drive, is a shortened and modified version of ACT 1 of the complete script.

None of this would have been possible without the incredible crew and cast who volunteered their time and talent and believed in the story. So many talented people helped us. And now, it’s finally finished. It would be really nice to hear some feedback on it and what feeling it ignites.

Here is the link for the trailer:
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/1065818586?share=copy
Youtube:

I'm also open to connecting with people who share the same passion for film, are on the same journey, or can help me move forward

 

[Spike]

Misael. My credentials are only as someone who has watched a lot of stuff, and not as anyone with any real expertise in, or even knowledge about, independent filmmaking. (Although, I do have a Master's Degree. In language!)

Anyway, that said . . . this is strong stuff.

The writing, the acting, the cinematography, and especially, i think, the editing, strike me as not just professional, but as superior. I love how it moves, quickly and efficiently, without a wasted second--the car pulling up, a look inside the car, the meeting place (I suppose) in the barn, the other guy's kind of sententious lecture, and that dude's, probably the protagonist's, face! Without words, his reactions, that face, is central to the whole thing. A great example of how all the elements of film and drama can work together to communicate something that feels unique, unified, and, maybe most importantly, interesting.

Anyway, as if moves on, the writing is strong, seemingly effortless, but weighted and intense. I liked the repetition of "fine," in several contexts, a bit of really?what does that really mean? and maybe a bit of semantic satiation. I really liked the bit with the guy walking down the stairs, having a line, which we don't see him deliver.

I i start to get a sense of what it is about, maybe something like (and just an impression) the hope, and the futility, of "recovery?" I don't know. But, from the trailer, I have just enough to want more, to want to find out, trusting, from the trailer, that it probably will be worth it.

 

[MisaelSine]

Spike. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed analysis and for your kind words. There is nothing more I as a filmmaker can ask for than seeing the work to which I've given my all resonate with someone. This truly made my day.