adrift in manhattan

From the Director

I want to explore the idea of the self in a modern city. ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN is a story that juxtaposes the physical motion of people—journeying every day back and forth to their jobs—with their emotional paralysis. The film embraces the idea of the "every day." This is a story of everyday people going through their lives. This film contrasts the idea of a fixed and determined journey (a means to an end) with the search for love and the search for community.

Every day, whether we like it or not, we make a trip to work. But for many people, this movement no longer mirrors their spiritual journey. There is a huge gap between our private and public selves. In fact, our public self suddenly has become more important than our private one. While we may appear fulfilled professionally, we remain at bay emotionally and spiritually. Or, alternatively, a private isolation sabotages our opportunities for professional success. The challenge of integrating these two selves is at the heart of my film.

I aspire for the final film to depict the internal world of characters deeply in crisis but who are at the same time immediately recognizable. ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN is a film about intangible connections, about reaching out and fulfilling one's spiritual needs in a world that is—for reasons related to social norms and unwritten codes of professional conduct—mostly uninterested in private suffering. The story charts the journeys of three very different people with a common spiritual malaise. It calls for us to face our mortality by embracing our shared humanity.

— Alfredo de Villa