For Ellen

So Yong Kim : 2012

Joby Taylor plays in a rock band and is totally dedicated to his art. But his musical ambitions, as well as his private life, are on the point of collapse. He's in the midst of divorce proceedings when he learns that his incompetent lawyer has failed to ensure him legal access to his six-year-old daughter Ellen. Whilst he has never had a role in her life, he realises that he is not yet ready to say goodbye to this part of his life. Joby negotiates a visit with his daughter to explore whether he is able to walk away from his child, and whether it might be too late for reconciliation. Again and again Joby finds himself in his car, driving through a vast snow-covered landscape. This boundless white expanse becomes a screen on to which his uncertainty and indecision is projected as he sets off on a journey into a past that never actually happened. Using the stark beauty and vast farmlands of an American winter as its backdrop, the film charts Joby's emotional journey as he realises what he has lost – and what, if anything, can still be saved. The film premiered at Berlin International Film Festival 2012.