AARON HUCKLEBERRY
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
In Andalusia, Southern Spain. Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project? The inspiration for my script, The Tree With No Heart, came from 3 sources – certain films; place; and, the current state of the world. Two documentary-style films that inspired me, Notturno (Gianfranco Rosi, 2020) and Three Songs For Benazir (Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei, 2021) focus on displaced and war-ravaged people in Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, Lebanon and Afghanistan. The rawness and broken poetry of these films opens the chest. They tell essential human stories in compelling and unforgettable ways. I live in rural Spain. The environment here is a blend of natural marvels (mountainous landscapes) and human marvels (massive olive groves, all hand planted and tended, supporting generations of people). Both the landscape and agriculture in Andalusia is similar to that of North West Syria, where the story of my script takes place. This gave me a point of reference, albeit that the experience of life in Spain and Syria is vastly different, with violence having blighted the life of Syrian people for countless years. The third source of inspiration came from the heinous ignorance by which the world is currently gripped, the loss of values, the intensification of divisions and hatreds. In my script, characters are driven to face their greatest fears, their deepest traumas in order to survive as spiritual and emotional beings. In doing so, the characters move toward a deeper awareness of the universal humanity of which they are all a part. The Tree with No Heart explores how all people, even the best of people, are capable of acts of violence, courage, forgiveness and redemption. It explores the eternal power of love, even in the face of the atrocities which people commit. |
How long did it take you to write your script or produce your pitch deck/sizzle reel/trailer...and what was your development process?
The research and dreaming up of the story took over a year. My research took the form of reading several books on Sufism and Persian poetry (Rumi), watching all the films I could find that are set in, or are about, Syria and making trips to 2 cities with large Muslim populations (Istanbul and Cairo). During the trip to Turkey, I saw a performance of the traditional sacred Sema/twirling dervish dance, which features prominently in my script. I outlined for several weeks until I couldn´t stand doing so anymore. Writing the script took me just over 3 months, from first word to submitted script. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? My first ambition is to write scripts that excite, move and satisfy me. If my writing process achieves this, then I find incredible fulfilment in this alone. My second ambition is to write scripts that excite, move and satisfy other people; when readers engage with the intellectual and emotional point of the story, the quandaries, agonies and elations of its characters, this is incredibly satisfying. My ultimate ambition is to see a script I have written made into a film. I care so deeply for the characters and feel such conviction about the themes, that seeing these things brought to life by an alchemic collaboration with people talented in all of the various facets of filmmaking would be a dream. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? The Coen Brothers (Fargo, No Country for Old Men) – utterly perfect movies in my mind. Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) – elegance and depth of feeling in story-telling. Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards) – structure as beautiful as the performances. Soudade Kaadan (The Day I Lost My Shadow) – an unforgettable blend of gritty reality and magic realism. Denis Villeneuve (Incendies) – a gut-wrenching, devastating piece of work. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? Singular? So hard! I´ll cheat and say that for the purposes of my script, the ultimate film is Notturno by Gianfranco Rosi. Filmed over three years on the borders between Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon, this documentary captures everyday life in the aftermath of tyranny, invasions and terrorism. But it is exquisitely beautiful in its cinematography and rich in visual poetry. If I had to choose one overall favourite film, it would probably be No Country For Old Men. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Be authentic. Take risks. Write something that makes you proud. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I´m reading in for a possible biopic project and other ideas are currently percolating! Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) Instagram: aaron_huckleberry_screenwriter |
