As I Look out the Window

Based on a true story, the film follows Anna, a young girl living on the only street leading to the cemetery in the small town of Victoria. Every funeral passes beneath her window, where the townspeople toss coins over open caskets and whisper that the weather reveals the soul’s fate. To the adults, it’s grief and ritual; to the children, a thrilling game. Anna longs to join them, but her superstitious mother forbids it, believing an open window invites death inside. Her skeptical father defies this rule, leaving the window open as processions pass. One day, he lets Anna watch beside him and two weeks later, he dies. Now, Anna wrestles with fear and doubt, wondering if superstition took him or if it’s all coincidence. In a town where death feels alive, she learns that belief can shape reality.

Director’s statement
This story is inspired by my mother’s childhood in a Romanian town where death was part of everyday life. Funerals weren’t private, they filled the streets with songs, prayers, and small, strange rituals. When I visited as a kid, I remember watching those processions, fascinated by how something so heavy could feel so normal. That memory became the heart of this film.
The short is a psychological drama with a hint of dark humor. It follows Anna, a curious girl caught between her mother’s superstitions and her father’s disbelief. Through her, the film explores how we learn to face death, not through fear, but through the stories and rituals that try to make sense of it.