AN ANATOMY OF GRIEF, 15min., Canada
Directed by Anthony Joseph Spatafora
A mother grieving the death of her son while being haunted by his corpse.

https://www.instagram.com/ananatomyofgrief_shortfilm/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

It actually came to me in a dream I had a few years ago, where I lived in a reality where I had been gone for 10 years and no one knew where I went. I came back into my friends' and family's lives and saw how my absence affected them. My parents were especially heartbroken. I'll never forget the moment in that dream when I came face to face with my mother after being gone for 10 years. The sadness, relief and pain in her face and voice haunts my brain to this day and it is what inspired me to write this story.

The story was also based on my own personal experiences with loss in my family. My father's dad passed away when he was young leaving my dad, uncle, and grandmother alone. My mother's father had an accident which altered who he was until the day he passed away. Seeing how these events affected my family and how they were all able to bounce back from it made me want to express how there is always hope even after immense loss.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take you to make this film?

It took me about a year and a half to develop the script and go into production and post-production. But I actually wrote the story in 2021 and then I adapted it into a script in 2024 because the story resonated more with me then. I finally finished it in April of 2025.

I rewrote the script many times. At one point, I had the mother's sister in the story as her support system, but I cut her out because I thought it was more important to show Cassandra (the mother) dealing with this loss on her own. Because not everyone has somebody to rely on.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Always Hope.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

The whole project was challenging because it was all new to me. I hadn't made a film with a budget this size before ($1,500).

Directing the crew during production and figuring out the schedule with my 1st AD was especially difficult. We crammed a lot into one day—including all of the makeup scenes and the morgue sequences and completing all that in one day felt amazing. But it was hard to direct my actors when I was also so particular with how every other aspect of its production looked.

Post-production also had its struggles. At one point, we nearly submitted the film out of sync! which was a very scary moment haha.

Also figuring out how to integrate my artwork into the film was difficult for me. But with the help of my professor Shannon Vieira-Covello I was able to find points in the story as to where they should belong.

My biggest challenge in post-production was battling my lack of confidence. At times I felt like the film wasn't good enough, but I fought through that self-doubt and made it the way I envisioned anyways. I owe huge thanks to my editor, Dani Michelle, and my sound mixer/editor, Christopher Goruloski. They both did such an incredible job, and the film wouldn't be the same without their work. I also want to thank my friends Abdullah Umar and Tae Sax, and my professors Shannon Vieira-Covello, Garrett Kerr and Kazik Radwanski for their support on this project. Their feedback and insight helped the film become the best it could be.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talk about your film in the feedback video?

It was nice to hear people express how much they appreciated the film, some people called it beautiful and said it was a great expression about dealing with grief. A lot of people I know didn't initially like or understand why Alex's ribs were exposed but hearing one person express how the mother was trying to put her son back together made me happy to see that people actually do get it haha.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

In high school, I took a class called Comp Tech, which was a film and editing class. I made a lot of films for the class and outside of it with my friends. We had so much fun in high school making films that I saw that I could do this for a living.

Around then, I was also watching a lot of films, particularly horror movies, that genre always resonated with me the most.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Probably E.T. I watched it so many times in high school—partly because I was too lazy to take the DVD out of the player, and partly because I just loved the story.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I think you all did a fantastic job promoting both my film and myself, and I really appreciate everything you've done for me.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the platform?

Pretty good, actually. The website is very user-friendly, and I didn't have any issues using it.

10. What is your favorite meal?

My grandmother's lasagna.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

As of right now, I just finished production designing a feature film, which was very challenging. I might take a little time to relax before diving into another big project like that.

That being said, this month I am production designing two short films. One is called Pilastro, written and directed by Ellie Reeves—you can check out the details on its Instagram page (@pilastro_film). The other is a 48-hour challenge project, which is still a secret for now.

I've also been working on two scripts on the side—one for another short film that deals with trauma, and another for a comic called Frogs With Hair. You can see some of the completed pages of that comic on my website's portfolio page: [https://bluemarjack.wixsite.com/ajspatafora/portfolio-collections/illustration-portfolio/the-frog-brothers].

On top of that, I'm finishing up editing a music video I directed over the summer for my friends' band, TORRENT, for their song DIG. If you're into the post-punk genre, you can find TORRENT on Spotify and other streaming platforms. The video will be released on October 31st on their YouTube channel.