Unseen
Status
Post-production
Format
Feature Film
Genre
Drama
LOGLINE:
Unseen is the story of a passionate swim coach and dedicated father who is forced by circumstance to navigate the turbulent reality of invisible homelessness. Working from his own semi-autobiographical script, filmmaker and lead actor Taylor Olson’s Unseen sensitively examines the isolation and delirium of hidden homelessness while exploring the compounding effects of small acts of kindness.
SYNOPSIS:
Gideon (he/they) is a small-time competitive swim coach and a dedicated father to his daughter Faith, living in Saint John, New Brunswick. He’s also secretly living out of his van. A little over a year ago, Gideon led a simpler life. His little family could barely afford a small two-bedroom apartment on their dual incomes, but with a little bit of help from his in-laws, they were surviving. However, Gideon wanted more. Exhausted by the fight to simply survive, Gideon risks the little savings they have on a risky investment, hoping for a more comfortable life.
His gamble fails and the family’s situation becomes only more dire. Gideon’s partner Kya leaves him to stay at her parent’s home two and a half hours away, taking their daughter Faith with her. Desperate to keep his family together, Gideon holds onto the apartment they so loved, hoping Kya & Faith will eventually come back to him. However, unable to afford the apartment on one income, Gideon spirals further into debt, and he turns to living out of his van to make ends meet. Ashamed of his new reality, Gideon subsists in secrecy only to find his tenuous situation worsened by the arrival and impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In the vein of films like The Florida Project and American Honey, Unseen follows the day-to-day life of Gideon as he faces logistical, existential, and emotional struggles related to invisible homelessness.
PRESS:
Telegraph Journal / Yahoo News “Saint John shoot ‘important moment’ for N.B. film industry: producers”
CTV Atlantic “Behind the scenes of Unseen“
CBC “After more than a decade in flux, N.B. film industry making a comeback”
CBC “One frame at a time: The road to reviving New Brunswick’s film industry”
Global “Feature film documenting unseen homelessness produced in Saint John”
Playback “Taylor Olson film Unseen in production in New Brunswick”
PARTNERS:
CREDITS:
Director & Writer: Taylor Olson
Producers: Britt Kerr, Stephen Foster, Sandy Hunter
Production Manager: Megan Theloson
Director of Photography: Kevin Fraser
Production Designer: Dominic Fegan
Editor: Shawn Beckwith
Costume Designer: Nicole Steeves
Key Grip: Matthew King
Sound Mixer: Graham Colwell
