“Division”: An Award-Nominated Film That Resonates with Everyone
By: Bora Cecia
Meeting as Loyola Chicago undergraduates, Alex Powell, Nilufer Lily Kaya, Michael Chopra, and Jillian Green collaborated in creating and bringing to life, “Division” a film exploring themes including friendship and personal growth. Now, up for a NATAS Mid-America Crystal Pillar Award nomination in the long form film category, this group of talented filmmakers share the creative process and the message they aimed to convey.
“What inspired this theme of division were experiences from my own life and those of friends. I was entering this age when I got the idea (and am still in this age range) where old friendships unfortunately drift apart and it’s just this unspoken fact of life that happens,” said Powell. “While the film is named Division, and there now exists a divide between Matt and Ben’s friendship [the two main characters in the film], it’s one that slowly forms over time and once it becomes clear there is a divide, it’s unclear whether it’s too late for the relationship to still be salvaged,” added Powell, the writer and director of the film.
In an interview, some members of the group reflect on this creative collaboration.
“I think if you ask most filmmakers, they will say that collaboration is their favorite part of the process, just because you have a certain set of things that you bring to the table. Alex was our writer, director, editor, really the source of this entire project. Michael Chopra, the director of photography, influenced the look of the film quite a lot. Jillian was an incredible production designer. And me and Alex worked together throughout the entire process. I read many, many versions of the script and gave input onto, characters and story flow and pacing. I was there in the beginning to develop as much as I could with him. He has a very, very clear vision, which made my job as a producer a lot easier,” said Kaya.
“Working with Lily, Michael and Jillian definitely helped shape what became the final film,” said Powell.
Through various creative choices, the filmmakers were able to bring the story to life along with a strong message for the audience.
“I wanted to capture their [the characters] one-on-one talks as single shots, to try and emphasize the division between the two friends. I wanted to establish and show these two close high school friends but have the audience inherently feel something feels off between the two. Cinematography and Michael were my friends in achieving that,” said Powell.
The film also emphasized the idea of two people being in two completely different spaces which further alludes to the theme of division in the film.
“This directly goes into the music choices, which I luckily had the pleasure of using tracks from the artist AMULETS. I wanted something that complemented the emptiness of these nostalgic locations Matt and Ben [the main characters in the film] find themselves going back to, and the tracks from AMULETS that I chose I felt complemented it perfectly,” said Powell.
The creators of the film took a moment during the interview to reflect on the core message of the piece made possible through their impactful storytelling.
“The message, at the core, is that the significance of a relationship is not necessarily gone just because the connection has faded,” said Kaya.
“My hope is that people can resonate with the characters and reflect on their own experiences in drifting apart from friends. Although this experience is universal, we rarely process it fully. I wanted to highlight the emotional impact of lost friendships and validate feeling grief over them. Men especially tend to dismiss these feelings as not “serious enough”, so this film aims to legitimatize that sense of loss,” concluded Powell.