Saved By Grace (2018) is a short film written and directed by Brandan Haskell, produced by Mattie Moore.
- Director & Writer: Brandan Haskell
- Cinematography: Micah Shiff
- Producer: Mattie Moore
- Main cast: Spencer Trinwith, Lauren Patterson
Set during the Second World War, the film follows Grace and Francis — a romance carried across thousands of miles, between the home front and the battlefield, where Francis is compelled to kill to survive. A story of love and endurance under the harshest conditions.
Saved By Grace won Best Short Film at the 2018 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, and collected 10 wins and 5 nominations in all — including Best Actor (Spencer Trinwith), Best Music Score (Mark Slater), and Best Short Film. The full list is on its IMDb page.
The score
I wrote the score between dates touring with Stevie Wonder, working with Grammy-nominated Edgar Sandoval. We recorded a small ensemble of five musicians — including cellist Ruslan Biryukov and violinist Etienne Gara — at a Los Angeles studio provided by Schecter Guitars. The music draws a line between the film’s two worlds: melodic and warm for the American romance, discordant and abrasive for the European war. It opens and closes on a solo clarinet motif that poses the film’s question — what is the true price of war?
The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it.
Stanley Kubrick