The Truth About Leaving 

A short film I made from a trip up to Duluth, Minnesota for the weekend. I ask, what does it mean to leave?
Credits:
Romario Avila - Assisting with the score.
My Fiance (Rachel Khalimendik) - Inspiring the movie.
The Polson Family - For hosting us for the week.
Cinematography, edit, and score all done by me.
Script:
We drove up to Minnesota this week, Duluth to be exact. And even though we had almost a week, I only recorded the last four hours.
[Duluth Title]
Every memory is catalogued in a different color. Except the memories of leaving. Leaving is always the same.
[Photo Montage]
There’s this weird feeling I get from leaving. When all the excitement from arriving is gone, leaving has this lingering melancholy nostalgia. Like looking back at a faded Polaroid, trying to bring it back to life.
[Polaroid Edit]
I don’t know that there’s anything particularly special about Duluth. I think what made it special is that we had to leave.
I think that’s because leaving is an in-between moment. One of those comings and goings that you never pay attention to.
It’s the space between where you were and where you’re going.
And that’s the problem. I’m always thinking about going somewhere. What’s next? What do I do after? How can I get where I need to go?
But leaving is what happens after I solve the mystery that those questions present.
And leaving isn’t the only in between moment. I think there’s lots more of them, they may even make up most of our lives. But leaving is the only one that gets consistently marked with an emotion. That weird lingering nostalgia.
Why that is I can only begin to guess. But if Duluth could talk, I think it would tell me that it’s not possible to appreciate every in-between moment, so it gave me this one to remember.
There’s something magical about running out of time. It made us extending our trip by just a few hours to eat at our favorite coffee shop one more time, send a postcard, and frantically run in the rain desperately trying to save a memory we had already made.
I don’t think it’s possible to love every single moment in life, but I need to learn to appreciate the ones that are marked with emotion. The ones that mark the end and the beginning. Because that’s where I’ll always find Duluth. And in Duluth, I’ll always find you.

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