I used to have dreams of becoming a film director. Now you could say I direct "unfinished films". I will always love everything about movies, and especially foreign films: the storylines, the beautiful cinematography, the soundtracks, the technicality of it all. Growing up, my father and I would escape the suburban life pretty much once a week and drive to New York City. We would stay there for hours on end and make cinematic stories for people we’d see walk by. We'd catch a midnight movie at IFC Center and talk about every beautiful element afterwards. He taught me to think creatively and never give up, even if my films were "unfinished". 

All my film script ideas came to life would come to life during first period in eighth grade, as I sat in the back of the room and daydreamed about the city. I’d write out the page-long stories in the back section of my notebook, complete with with storyboards, crew lists, shot lists, locations, and more. However, when it came to actually putting those short films into production, things never quite clicked into place.

My older cousin Sophia came to visit when I was lost in this fading dream of becoming a film director. Sophia has always been somebody I look up to: throughout the struggles in her life, she always maintained a mentality that art is the solution to chaos. She even has a tattoo that says so in French. So, in a way, what happened during her visit now feels like it was inevitable: I was taking photos of her and suddenly decided to put French “subtitles” over the images to make them seem like screengrabs from an old foreign movie. I titled her “unfinished film” The Solution to Chaos, though I had no way of predicting that others would follow. 

Now, though, this unfinished film is the first of many, all featuring their own characters and stories. Whether the subtitles are made up to fit the vibe of the photos or written as a reflection of the actress, each unfinished film represents a story in the picture show of life.

“A girl once told me that art is the solution to chaos.”

"So I started asking myself if what she said was true."

"Until the day I finally believed it"

"And I believed in myself."