DAHLIA WHITE is a cautionary tale of a young girls obsession with a boy and the lengths she will go to fulfill her fantasy.
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Director Biography – Alison Moir
Alison landed her first acting role in JOHNNY SUEDE written and directed by Tom Dicillo, which was selected at the Sundance Film Festival. Transformed by this experience, her closet writing addiction began, along with a desire to one day make her own independent films.
When Alison’s two daughters became teenagers, she then decided it was time to produce and direct one of the short films she had written SILENT APRIL (SA). The story was inspired by a close friend with a traumatic brain injury. Having acted for so many years, she understood the process, but needed help putting all of the pieces together. After many hours of research and the realization that she herself was a student of film, this led her to collaborate with the film students at the Santa Fe School of Art and Design where she successfully directed and produced (SA). Excited by the accolades and wanting to take it to the next level, Alison raised some money to produce another short film she wrote called DAHLIA WHITE (DW).
As her life had taken her back to NYC, she used her experience making SA to figure out how to connect and collaborate with several NYU students, including her two daughters, to produce DW, which is currently in post-production. The film will be released in January 2021.
Director Statement
Dahlia White is inspired by the complexity of human emotion and the lengths that people will go to suppress them. Dahlia, the film’s main protagonist, is an aspiring mini mogul. I mean, really, doesn’t every teenage girl want to be the next Kylie Jenner? She is a goal-oriented, perfectionist who will do or say whatever it takes to win in all aspects of her life. These are all qualities that a parent would want in their child, however, Dahlia takes it to the extreme, a mechanism she uses to seek attention.
The film deals with teenage anxiety, as the characters grapple with their identities, finding their voice in a world saturated by social media and a society riddled with broken families and busy parents with demanding work schedules. Many teenagers today are unsupervised looking to the internet as a source of comfort and guidance.
The sorority sisters of Alpha Omega Chi live in a world opposite to this and everything that Dahlia stands for. They are an example of what we see in society today, a far left and a far right. The artwork and austere set design of the sorority house expresses defiance within a generation of privileged youth angered by the issues they face today including the #MeToo movement, body image issues and Climate Change.
Visually, the film has a hyper realistic tone that feeds the satire of the overindulged teenage girl. Dahlia is the darker side of “Elle Woods” from Legally Blonde. The flashback scenes are inspired by Splendor in the Grass. Dahlia and Deane are both desperate for love at a time where their teenage angst is at its peak. With the high school scenes, I wanted to create an episodic Disney feel. Dahlia would have grown up on episodes of “Lizzie McGuire” which emulate Dahlia’s ideal family life, had her parents not gotten a divorce. The sorority and its sisters’ vibe is more urban. The cooler-toned colors create a stark, futuristic effect, as I believe that extremes of the left and the right are coming to fruition.
“The truth will set you free”, no matter how difficult it is to admit to any wrong doings or mistakes. The only way out from this cycle is to take ownership of those mistakes so the wound can be healed. Dahlia does not apologize or take ownership in this film. I believe that ownership is at the core of why so many people are unable to move on from trauma and go on to repeat it.
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