Sad LARP
Director: Marissa Goldman
United States, 2023, 17 min
Shooting Format:Digital
Festival Year:2024
Category:Documentary Short
Genres:Comedy, Documentary
Cast:Marissa Goldman
Crew:Writer: Marissa Goldman. Producer: Shan Fahey, Allie Viti. Director of Photography: Ian Faria. Editor: Tori-Lynne Davis. Composer: Simon Hanes.
Email:mrissg@gmail.com
Synopsis
In this documentary, a comedian's break-up leads her to a surprising journey with a community of LARPers.
About the director
Marissa Goldman is a filmmaker and comedian. She has made work for Adult Swim, Vice, Complex, and more. Her films have screened at Brooklyn Film Festival, Kansas City Underground Film Festival, No Budge Live, Borscht, Eternal Family TV and more. She has been featured in Vulture, Teen Vogue, Fast Company, WNYC and had a write up about her online comedy show "Marissa's Google Doc Quarantine Party" on Google.
Filmmaker's note
As comedians, we are often hiding behind irony, and I felt inspired to make something related to what I was genuinely going through, which was heartbreak. Even now I am tempted to make a joke, but I would like to hold back. Let's settle on this: just imagine "heartbreak" was in comic sans, to make this slightly lighter. I started filming my life and this ultimately led me to a bizarre new experience with a group of LARPers and we met an older couple with an amazing story. At a time I felt very raw, I liked the idea of a film that tempts irony but makes the choice to be sincere. This film is about not being able to face reality, and then connecting with a group that purposefully doesn't face reality in a way that is surprisingly healing.