Date of Award

1-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Buyssens, Ryan

Area of Concentration

Film and Time Based Media, Russian Language and Literature

Abstract

This thesis is both a creative project and a critical investigation into the dissolving boundary between art shaping life and life shaping art in filmmaking. The creative project at its center is EAT MY LOVE, a short film adaptation of the Russian folk tale The Maiden Tsar (Царь-Девица). It is a fairytale set in the modern world that uses elements of surrealism and magical realism, and unexpectedly became a camouflaged documentary. Paralleling EAT MY LOVE’s storytelling rhythm, this thesis is divided into three segments: pre-production, production, and post-production. Each segment documents the corresponding step in the filmmaking process and explores the related topics of finding truth in fiction, adaptation, actor-character fusion, artistic influences/predecessors, and blurry truth/art boundaries. Drawing on the films and writings of Werner Herzog, Vladimir Propp, Abbas Kirostami and Uldus Bakhitiozina, and the experience from this filmmaking journey, I argue that through fairytale storytelling and adaptation, art has the extraordinary capacity to answer questions and reveal truth.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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