History’s Youngest Filmmaker

When most youngsters are dragging through college lectures and clicking silly pictures on their phone camera, a skilled, vibrant girl decided to use the lens to create a feature film. Yes, Marina Bruno, an independent filmmaker from Canada, conquered the screen with her first feature film at nineteen, becoming history’s youngest filmmaker.

Marina is a colourful melange of skills. She wrote, directed, shot, edited, and even acted in her first film. Produced under her own production company, Wondering Pictures, the film goes by ‘Cotton String’. It is 64 minutes long with an engaging plot that coils around two men who find themselves in a mess after investing in an eccentric hippie drug dealer’s electric car invention. Various exciting events follow that each result in more chaos and confusion.

The non-linear story structure of the film makes it incredibly interesting. It doesn’t open or close with the chronological start and finish. Throughout the film, bits and pieces are shown to keep the audience hooked in anticipation, wondering how everything fits together. Oh, another interesting thing about the film is that the entire story takes place in one day. Marina has managed to make every minute brim with thrill and laughter with such sterling nuances and her fantastic screenwriting and direction.

‘The story explores the tragedy of being misled in life.’ says the young filmmaker. ‘I created characters that are specifically imperfect and faulty; characters that their misfortunate positions will be relatable to the audience. I want this film to be a different point of view on life; a point of view that makes fun of our inevitable tragedies, while also admitting our deliberate, idealistic ignorance.’ Such a unique and striking perspective, isn’t it?

When asked about her reason for becoming a filmmaker in an interview, Marina revealed that her father is a filmmaker, so she has been immersed in it her whole life. And we feel that letting yourself immerse in art is one of the best things you can do for yourself and the world.