An artist has taken in a young girl and raised her as his protege. The girl is a talented painter with an intoxicating disposition. The man finds her enticing to the point of obsession, so he keeps her presence to himself by having her work inside often.
She is finally allowed to leave the house for her first gallery show. There she is admired by all, but especially by a boy. The man notices this connection, and jealousy begins to drive him mad. As the boy spends more time with the girl, the man experiences extreme visions and malicious urges. No longer able to control himself, he casts the boy out of the girl’s life and takes her back as his own.
For a while, their relationship seems repaired. The man and the girl are growing closer, and she continues to create pieces in her image. However, she is not the only one.
The boy shows up at the man’s house having painted the girl’s likeness. The girl is entranced, finally seeing her beauty, talent, and brilliance replicated. She is consumed. Nothing else matters. No longer the focal point of his protege’s life, the man erupts in a fit of rage and destroys the portrait. Just as easily as he slashes the painting does she in turn slash him. It was never about him; it was always about her.
Maya Pegues is a multidisciplinary artist who uses fine arts, sound, writing, film, digital media, movement and photography to share her personal aesthetic, emotions, and stories.
Maya is a recent grad of SCAD with a BFA in Painting and a minor in Production Design. Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, She now lives in Atlanta, GA breaking into the film industry.
She has worked on Netflix’s “Sweet Magnolias” as a set dec PA and is currently working on a feature film for Paramount called “Pretty Stoned,” in the same position.
Director Statement
'The Tears of Our Reality' is a psychological thriller proof of concept film that focuses on how an artist can be so obsessed with their work to the point that it consumes their life, self-image, and love.
Now, how I came up with the story is a little different. I had a dream. In this dream, I saw flashes of imagery. There were women dressed in dresses, dancing in the woods. A man staring into the distance. A girl running in a field. I am sure they're more things, but that is what stood out to me most. I then decided I wanted to make a story out of it and here we are!
I have always been intrigued by the psychology of a person and how it can be portrayed in film. I wanted to take this idea, play with it, and see how I could push my concept to make it interesting. When I watch a film, I find the still moments to be most thrilling, where the actor or scene is still and you just analyze the details for the story. The reason I decided to go with the concept of choosing an artist as my subject is because I am a painter myself. I see many artists day-to-day and very few are not consumed by their work. Look what happened to Van Gogh, it breeds an interesting story to explore.
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