As You Were – Short Film (2020)

It is a trauma that must be overcome. But on the road there is a travel companion who only seems to exist in one's mind. This young man is on a journey in which the lines between reality and fiction are blurred and acceptance ultimately prevails over repression. Official Selection of »Dumbo Film Festival NYC«, »Florence Film Awards«, »Venice Film Awards« and »Lift-Off-Festival Berlin« Winner "Best Actor" at Florence Film Awards – Moritz Leon Tostmann Written & Directed by Henry Morten Oehlert Produced by Athanor Akademie, Studio104a & BlindedbytheLights Films Director of Photography: Benjamin Strobel Boom Operator: Florian Beck & Luka Radovic Editor & Sound Design: Luka Radovic Set Photography: Julian Höcher Director's Assistant: Felix Sedlmeir Apprentice: Eva Philipp Cast Gareth McGregor.....Philip Moritz Leon Tostmann.....Arno Sarah Plattner.....Molly Ronja Seyfried.....Girlfriend Music James Forest – »Midnight Mermaids« Kyle Preston – »A Scarlett Recressy« Lörns – »Nie geredet« Lörns & Henry Morten – »Cabrio fahren im Winter« Toxic Hearts – »Forever is never enough« Director Statement What happens to you, when guilt forces you to continually re-live horrible events you were a part of? What coping mechanisms does your psyche come up with to protect you from yourself? Trying to understand this process was the idea behind the film. I was particularly interested in the structure our brain uses to twist the reality of past events so that we may have a chance at living on. The ability to forget plays a major role here: If we couldn't forget terrible events, we would be completely inhibited and incapable of action. But what happens if we refuse to forget or to accept; if guilt forces us to keep every moment of a fatal event as real and present in our minds as possible? To show this inner conflict within oneself, the film follows a young man who has separated the part of his mind that wants to forget and personalized him as an imaginary friend. He wages a hopeless battle against himself in order to keep the construct alive that he himself built.

Added 11 May 2026