Written, Produced & Directed by
ROlfIN NYHUS & Steven Brumwell
His worst fears seemingly realised; a distraught father takes one last walk through his ruined world. For most people, being at the centre of their own world and having a loving family is a wonderful thing. For Charlie, it's literally a nightmare. A short film about OCD.
Starring globally acclaimed actor Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The First Omen), Waving is an unflinching, but ultimately hopeful examination of the much-misunderstood condition of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
** Viewer Discretion Advised **
The film contains scenes depicting intensive, intrusive thoughts that some may find triggering.
ABOUT THE FILM
Waving was recently made available as a general release on YouTube following a successful run on the global festival circuit (35 festivals, 35 Nominations, 20 Awards) including the 2023 edition of our Kino London Short Film Festival where it won Best Cinematography.
Other festival highlights include Sitges, being nominated for Best East Anglian Film at the BAFTA Qualifying Norwich Film Festival, winning Best Production Design at the 2023 British Short Film Awards (where it was also nominated for: Best Actor, Best British Short Film, and Best Sound), winning Best Actor for Ralph Ineson at the BIFA Qualifying Manchester Film Festival and the Romford Film Festival, winning Best Editing at the BIFA Qualifying Brighton Rocks Film Festival and winning Best Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography at the BIFA Qualifying Unrestricted View Film Festival.
The team behind the production were assembled across a wide range of neuro-diverse backgrounds, and the writer has lived with OCD since the age of 11, only being diagnosed at 18. Employing a surrealist filter to portray the terrifying thoughts that the condition causes sufferers, the film has been embraced by the community, festivals, and critics alike. The team hopes that this general release without any form of paywall will continue to shine a light on this cruel and misunderstood illness.
ABOUT THE FILMmakerS
ROLFIN NYHUS developed his interest in filmmaking while reading English Literature, producing work for other directors in his spare time. Spurred on by his love of European cinema - particularly the work of Bergman, Haneke, Herzog and Mike Leigh, he decided to abandon further academic study at King’s College to establish TankTop Films as a vehicle for his own projects. He is a native Londoner with English, Irish and Scandinavian roots and a fond habitué of the Cannes Film Festival. Waving is his 4th narrative film with a festival run planned from summer 2022.
STEVEN BRUMWELL has been fascinated by the silver screen since being left awestruck by the magnificence of Indiana Jones’ heroism at the ABC in Birmingham, 1981. A bit of a polymath, he has launched numerous enterprises but always returned to the written word. Influenced by Wilder, Lynch, Kurosawa and Lynne Ramsey, he strives to portray broad emotions in interesting ways. His work is continually drawn to the deep well of mental wellbeing by his battles with OCD since early childhood, Waving is his first project to be filmed
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ROlfIN
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
I am a native Londoner with English, Irish and Scandinavian roots. I developed an interest in filmmaking when reading English Literature, producing work for other directors in my spare time. Spurred on by a love of European cinema - particularly the work of Bergman, Haneke, Herzog and Mike Leigh - I decided to abandon further academic study at King’s College to establish TankTop Films as a vehicle for like minded creatives to collaborate and produce work they care about.
Tell us about the genesis of Waving. What was the inspiration behind the film and how did you come to be attached to the project?
My creative cohort (and brilliant writer) on ‘Waving’, Steve Brumwell, has had OCD since childhood. Along with writing his own material he has always been generous with his time when it comes to supporting other writers. That is how we met, with him helping me sharpen up my own scribbles. We hit it off and struck up a friendship. We often share script ideas with each other to move them along. ‘Waving’ was an idea in the mill we liked enough to not leave it languishing on a hard drive.
With 'Waving', Steve really wanted to portray OCD in a way as yet unseen: The internal torture rather than the external compulsions are rarely shown in any form of media. The idea for the dystopian elements comes from a love of horror and a desire to explore ways of showing how intrusive thoughts do make the sufferer feel as though existence is dependent on fulfilling the authoritarian orders OCD creates in one’s mind.
Tell us about the experience of working with a Casting Director to get Ralph Ineson attached.
Our Casting Director, Cameron Culver, has become a dear friend and supporter of TankTop Films’ work. We do our best to give him whatever materials are needed to pitch the project we are working on and he diligently does the rest. Forgive the platitude but casting is so, so vital and it is a godsend having someone you trust looking after that side of things, which can be fraught with rejection and disappointment.
With Ralph, I think we simply got lucky with the timing. So, hopefully, there is a ray of hope there for other filmmakers. All you can do is work hard on the material, have faith in it, and then hope for the best that the talent you really want are able to fit the project into their schedule. A word of caution, we did have to wait over a year for Ralph’s diary to free up, but it was 100% worth the wait.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Waving and how did you overcome them?
All the usual ones. Finance. Locations. Logistics. British weather. Namely, it pissing down with rain on the last day of shooting. There isn’t a magic formula, I don’t think. You overcome it all by, hopefully, keeping cool and maintaining a tenacious attitude as best you can.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights.
With festivals, my attitude after innumerable rejections is that every “No” is leading closer to a ‘Yes”. Reaching an audience hopefully starts via the festival circuit, and if what you have made is actually any good hopefully your peers and audiences respond. Given all the artistic modes of expression there are, film remains meritocratic, relatively speaking. I have friends in the art and music worlds and their experiences of getting eyes (and ears) on their work is even more brutal, believe it or not, despite their obvious talent and hard work.
Highlights on the circuit were our premiere at Sitges and the screening at Norwich Film Festival (as we shot some of the film in East Anglia). A stroke of luck meant we had four US festivals almost back to back, so I got the opportunity to attend Austin, Idyllwild, Dam Short and Cinema On The Bayou.
‘Waving’ was made in the hope people suffering from OCD might find some solace in the portrayal. We were deeply honoured that the IOCDF and OCD Action were unrelenting in their support. Through them (and our incredible Exec Producers, Ethan S. Smith and Catherine Benfield) we have been able to get the film out via the OCD Community first of all. Since releasing it, we have had a deluge of thank you messages which has left the entire team teary eyed. Our hope though, is that we eventually reach a more mainstream audience so that, slowly over time, some misconceptions about this widely misunderstood condition can start being challenged.
Cinematographer Andrew Alderslade accepting the award for Best Cinematography at our 2023 Kino London Short Film Festival for his work on “Waving“
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face in the early stages of their career when trying to break into the industry?
The same challenges everyone experiences in anything they ever attempt to do. You start out not knowing much, really. You have to go through the pain of learning. Watch films and read as voraciously as you can. Make something and embrace whatever successes or failures it brings your way. Rinse and repeat.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
Filmmaking needs “belief and momentum” - a few sage words I try to keep in mind courtesy of Terry Gilliam.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
Cache (2005) by Hankeke - a modern masterpiece.
Autumn Sonata (1976) by Bergman - a complex and compassionate exploration of the relationship dynamic between a mother and daughter.
Camera Buff (1978) by Kiewlowski - one of the most charming films ever made. Hard to find!
Nuts In May (1976) by Mike Leigh - an old ‘Play For Today’ TV Film by the BBC. A testimony to how you can create something relatively inexpensive with wise location choices, a great script and capable actors.
