LOGLINE
Living alone on the Mediterranean coast, a successful content creator begins to realise that her real life and emotions have been slipping away beyond the frame.
Living alone on the Mediterranean coast, a successful content creator begins to realise that her real life and emotions have been slipping away beyond the frame.
Golden Hour is a psychological short film about a young woman who has become so accustomed to presenting a beautiful version of herself that she can no longer distinguish genuine emotion from performance.
Mia has built a new life for herself on the Mediterranean coast, far away from her family and the home she left behind. She records every step, carefully constructs every smile and measures her value through views, attention and approval. Behind the camera, however, she is anxious, exhausted and increasingly disconnected from her own life.
A chance encounter with Lea and an unexpected moment captured in the background of Mia's video force her to notice something she has forgotten: emotions that exist without an audience, without control and without the need to be seen.
Mia has built a new life for herself on the Mediterranean coast, far away from her family and the home she left behind. She records every step, carefully constructs every smile and measures her value through views, attention and approval. Behind the camera, however, she is anxious, exhausted and increasingly disconnected from her own life.
A chance encounter with Lea and an unexpected moment captured in the background of Mia's video force her to notice something she has forgotten: emotions that exist without an audience, without control and without the need to be seen.
CAST AND CREW
Film by
Aliks Artsishevich
Starring
Yelyzaveta Turchanovich
Producer
Elena Greaves
Director of Photography
Andrey Dedal
Assistant Director
Julia Zotova
Film by
Aliks Artsishevich
Starring
Yelyzaveta Turchanovich
Producer
Elena Greaves
Director of Photography
Andrey Dedal
Assistant Director
Julia Zotova
2026 SHORT FILM | DRAMA
She learned how to show happiness.
But forgot how to feel it
She learned how to show happiness.
But forgot how to feel it
GOLDEN HOUR
ABOUT THE FILM
OFFICIAL TRAILER
Watch the official trailer for Golden Hour
Golden Hour explores the moment when self-presentation begins to replace emotional experience.
Mia is not simply a victim of social media, and the film is not intended as a direct criticism of technology. The camera reveals a deeper human need: the desire to be seen, loved and validated through the attention of others.
Mia knows how happiness should look. She can describe it, frame it and present it convincingly. What she has forgotten is how happiness feels when there is no audience.
Her conflict is not only between real life and social media. It is between image and experience, control and vulnerability, performance and genuine emotion.
The film follows Mia as the identity she created begins to collapse. Through loss, memory and the unguarded emotions of other people, she is gradually confronted with the life that has continued beyond her frame.
The final image does not offer a complete transformation or an easy answer. It captures a smaller and more fragile possibility: that Mia may once again be able to recognise happiness when she sees it — and perhaps, eventually, feel it herself.
Mia is not simply a victim of social media, and the film is not intended as a direct criticism of technology. The camera reveals a deeper human need: the desire to be seen, loved and validated through the attention of others.
Mia knows how happiness should look. She can describe it, frame it and present it convincingly. What she has forgotten is how happiness feels when there is no audience.
Her conflict is not only between real life and social media. It is between image and experience, control and vulnerability, performance and genuine emotion.
The film follows Mia as the identity she created begins to collapse. Through loss, memory and the unguarded emotions of other people, she is gradually confronted with the life that has continued beyond her frame.
The final image does not offer a complete transformation or an easy answer. It captures a smaller and more fragile possibility: that Mia may once again be able to recognise happiness when she sees it — and perhaps, eventually, feel it herself.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
SYNOPSIS
Mia, 27, has built a new life for herself on the Mediterranean coast, far from her family and the future they once imagined for her. She presents happiness professionally, carefully rehearsing every smile and turning her life into content.
A chance meeting with Lea begins to expose the distance between Mia’s public image and her real emotional state. During another shoot, Mia accidentally captures a mother and child sharing a spontaneous moment of affection in the background. Their genuine happiness unsettles her and opens a crack in the controlled world she has created.
When her professional identity begins to collapse and a deeply personal loss reconnects her with the part of herself she abandoned, Mia must face a painful truth: while showing others how to live, she has stopped experiencing her own life.
A chance meeting with Lea begins to expose the distance between Mia’s public image and her real emotional state. During another shoot, Mia accidentally captures a mother and child sharing a spontaneous moment of affection in the background. Their genuine happiness unsettles her and opens a crack in the controlled world she has created.
When her professional identity begins to collapse and a deeply personal loss reconnects her with the part of herself she abandoned, Mia must face a painful truth: while showing others how to live, she has stopped experiencing her own life.
Mia has learned to reproduce the appearance of happiness while gradually losing access to the emotion itself.
Throughout the film, controlled images are contrasted with spontaneous human behaviour: rehearsed smiles against unplanned laughter, carefully composed videos against accidental moments, and digital approval against emotional connection.
The golden hour becomes not merely a beautiful time of day, but a brief moment in which Mia finally stops controlling what she sees.
Throughout the film, controlled images are contrasted with spontaneous human behaviour: rehearsed smiles against unplanned laughter, carefully composed videos against accidental moments, and digital approval against emotional connection.
The golden hour becomes not merely a beautiful time of day, but a brief moment in which Mia finally stops controlling what she sees.
A selection of official stills from Golden Hour
FILM STILLS
KEY CREATIVE IDEA
BEHIND THE SCENES
Behind-the-scenes photographs from the production of Golden Hour in Gazipaşa, Turkey.
FESTIVAL DESCRIPTION
Golden Hour is an intimate psychological short film about a woman who has mastered the appearance of happiness but lost the ability to experience it.
Through a restrained visual style and a character-driven narrative, the film examines attention, family distance, grief and the fragile boundary between documenting life and living it.
Through a restrained visual style and a character-driven narrative, the film examines attention, family distance, grief and the fragile boundary between documenting life and living it.
FILM INFORMATION
Title: Golden Hour
Year: 2026
Format: Short Film
Genre: Psychological Drama
Original Language: English
Filming Location: Gazipaşa, Turkey
Production: Independent, non-commercial film
Year: 2026
Format: Short Film
Genre: Psychological Drama
Original Language: English
Filming Location: Gazipaşa, Turkey
Production: Independent, non-commercial film
CAST AND CREW
Director: Aliks Artsishevich
Starring: Yelyzaveta Turchanovich
Producer: Elena Greaves
Director of Photography: Andrey Dedal
Assistant Director: Julia Zotova
Starring: Yelyzaveta Turchanovich
Producer: Elena Greaves
Director of Photography: Andrey Dedal
Assistant Director: Julia Zotova
For festival enquiries, screenings, press materials and professional requests:
rudmancompany@gmail.com
Producer: Elena Greaves
Film: Golden Hour
Year: 2026
CONTACT
