Introduction:
The Catcher is my debut short film and tells the story of Robin, a lonely young man who works for the government as a catcher of invisible birds. We set out to create something that blends subtle elements of sci-fi with a character-driven drama. A short film that’s both cinematic and intimate, to highlight themes of loneliness and depression.
Inspiration:
My DP, Gilles Mosar, and I wanted to film something on Super 8. Something small, low-budget and short, but it turned into this big short film production. I came up with the idea of a guy going to different places and having to film something mysterious. Quickly, that evolved into filming invisible things, the unseen beauty in the world. Loneliness and depression are themes that feel close to me, so I began exploring invisibility as a metaphor for feeling unseen, overlooked, and almost as if you don’t exist. I was deeply moved by the idea that film can bring the unseen back into the light.
The Process:
We shot the film all across Belgium, from Antwerp to Houffalize. Although the film appears to feature many different locations, several of them were cleverly created using the same spaces. Robin’s house, for example, is actually a combination of two different houses, seamlessly edited together to appear as one. The various places where he catches birds also seem like separate locations, but they were all filmed inside the same building, an abandoned power plant whose unique architecture perfectly suited the film’s world. We also didn’t set dress that much; most locations stayed as we found them.
The most difficult sequence to shoot was the boat scene. There is a well-known saying in filmmaking: “Never shoot with boats,” and we quickly discovered why. During filming, the boat’s motor unexpectedly fell into the water, forcing us to stop production and return two weeks later to complete the scene. Fortunately, the weather was almost identical, so in the final edit you won’t notice the time gap.
The film was entirely self-financed, which meant we had to work within a very tight budget throughout production. Bringing a fable set in the past to the screen with limited resources required creativity and careful planning. We chose the early 90s as our time period because it’s still quite easy to recreate with cars, clothes, and semi-old houses.
What It Means to Be a Finalist:
Last year, when we finished the film, I was afraid that no one was going to see it. It would have been ironic for a film about invisibility to remain invisible itself. Thankfully, the film’s universal themes have connected with audiences and festival programmers around the world. We are incredibly grateful that the story of Robin has found its way to so many people, and we are especially thrilled to share it with the audiences at the Worcester Film Festival.
Where to Watch / Follow:
Follow Robin’s festival journey on Instagram @thecatcher.film for festival updates and behind-the-scenes. Feel free to also follow @lukascope.film, my production company’s account for upcoming productions.
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