Ariel Martin has been building an impressive portfolio of TV commercials and short films such as the AACTA nominated The iMom (2014), which has amassed 4million+ views. His latest film, Girl of the Sky, has just become available online and is a thought provoking ‘how did they do that?’ short film with an internationalist touch.
“A couple of years ago a stumbled across some YouTube videos of ‘Urbex’ teenagers climbing up and hanging off towers and cranes in Eastern Europe,” says Ariel Martin. “They were so mind-blowingly dangerous, literally hanging off a crane with one hand, or walking across a narrow beam, or literally dangling their girlfriend above the abyss… I was obsessed. I wanted to learn more about this Urbex subculture, and why it seemed to have such traction in Ukraine and Russia. I connected wth a couple of these ‘Roofers’ online and flew to Kiev to check out some of their favourite spots. While there’s plenty of raw footage online, I’d never seen this subculture brought to life in a narrative form, so I was just searching for a story to tell. In the end, writer Raphael Elisha and I created a simple story about a teenage girl who is forced to stand up for herself and reclaim the narrative about a past sexual encounter that’s being used to torment her.
“With #METOO and #TIMESUP so thunderous, it felt like the perfect time to tell a story like this with a strong female lead, played by an incredible young Ukrainian talent in Kireeva Alexandra.”
