For their graduation showcase short film, Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) students Ruby Reardon and Layla Philippou have made Nothing And The Sun, a work born of their unexpected and profound friendship.

“Our parents were in the same hospital at the same time last year. It was kind of this crazy coincidence that brought us together – we were texting one day and realised we were sitting in waiting rooms of the same Intensive Care Unit, just a floor apart,” says 21-year-old Layla.

“Each of our parents passed away quite close together, and we thought ‘we have to make something out of everything we’re feeling – this whole experience and the synchronicity between us.’”

The two quickly became collaborative and creative partners, co-writing and directing their 11-minute grad film Nothing And The Sun based on their experiences of grief and friendship.

Written from a child's perspective

“It’s basically been us really directly putting our personal experiences into the film and reimagining it through the perspective of two 11-year-olds,” says Ruby, who is 22.

“We both really naturally leant towards writing from a child’s perspective. We sort of felt that going through this whole experience and this loss brought us back to being children that just wanted their parents and wanted a feeling of safety.”

The film tells the story of 11-year-old Mallee and his best friend, Alby – who, like Ruby and Layla, are navigating the loss of a parent. Nothing And The Sun is a tender story of friendship and perseverance.

“So much love also coexists with so much grief, and that’s just always going to be the case,” Layla says.

“We wanted to make something beautiful out of loss, not to romanticise the loss but to acknowledge that there’s beautiful parts within it.”

'Heartwarming' reception for film 

Reuben Reynolds and Nicholas Davies star in the film alongside Jen Boxer, who plays Alby’s mum. It was Reuben’s first lead role and the three actors met just a week before filming.

“The thing that was special to us was exploring the way that their childhood was still there and the beauty of their friendship and how special that is. Moments of catharsis and pure joy that sort of bleed into all the grief,” Ruby says.

Ruby and Layla will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production and Nothing And The Sun will be submitted to film festivals in the coming months, giving audiences the chance to see the film as it tours the festival circuit.

“Most of the people who have seen the film know us and our story, so the reception has been quite warm and heartwarming, and special,” Layla says.

“We've had people say to us how it brought stuff up for them. It really connected them to emotions and grief that maybe they've been distant from otherwise.”

The film had industry eyes on it last month at the AFTRS graduate showcase.

“It has kind of opened up relationships with people we hadn’t connected with before the film,” Layla says.

Ruby and Layla were supported by their production team: producer Riti Ramanujachari, cinematographer Tavishek Sharma, production designer Madeleine Massey, editor Cooper Kahui-Chee, sound recordists Chloe Russell Alexander, Tegan Krempl, Jake Smith, Wentian Jin, Grace Rodgers, and Marcus Tran, sound designer James Yeremeyev and composer Daniel Duque.

Forces shaping young talent  

“Our friendship has led me to a place of understanding my grief, which has just completely formed and shaped this project into something I don't think it could be without a friendship,” Ruby says.

Ruby is from Stanwell Park and found the world of film through her interest in photography. She began filmmaking during her degree at AFTRS.

“My perception of everything circling around me is shaped by my identity as a Pacific Islander. On the Islands, overwhelming suffering is being endured as they front the climate crisis. Creating means connecting to a world of grief and gives me an opportunity to voice the silenced,” she says.

Layla, who lives in Penshurst, has been interested in filmmaking since childhood.

“To tell the truth, I was walking down the street when I was like 15 and I just thought to myself ‘I want to make a film’, and it’s just been that way ever since,” she says.

“I’d always have such overwhelming emotional responses to films, and felt like that meant I should be making something myself. And everything I make now will probably always, in some way, be intimately tied to my exploration of grief, and of the complexity and vulnerability of human relationships – films that can be a vehicle for connection and introspection, and power important discourse around death and loss.”

Doco on Australia's 'death doula'

Before Nothing And The Sun, Layla directed a short documentary Ode To An End (available on SBS on Demand) about Denise Love, Australia's first death doula. Ruby was the cinematographer and co-editor on this project. 

“A doula is basically a non-medical professional who fills in all of the gaps that palliative care, nurses and doctors don't fill in,” Layla says.

“They can do anything to make the process easier for a dying person and for the people around them. They can liaise with funeral companies. They can just sit by a dying person's side for days. They can educate the family on the physical processes of the body when dying or carry out wishes post-death to make sure that people get the ceremony they want.”

Layla and Ruby stayed with the death doula and her husband in Victoria while filming the documentary.

“Theres this practice called shrouding, where you wrap a deceased person in a cloth covering, allowing a different kind of post-death ritual and process – without a coffin, where often the person is buried directly in the earth. Denise often simulates this practice in her doula workshops, and we were able to see it in Victoria," Layla says.

"We all gathered around this beautiful deciduous tree – all the leaves had fallen, creating this autumnal coloured bedding on the ground. Denise laid a large piece of cloth over the leaves, wrapped me up, and tied it tight around my body,

"I was there for hours like that. It was a very special and emotional experience, like an imagining of my own death. It really solidified my dedication to exploring death and grief in film, even before I had a deep personal connection to it."

A bright future

Ruby and Layla are hoping to start their own production company after graduating next month. Later this year, the two will attend an artists' retreat at The Tasman Cottage in Tasmania, where they will write and make another short film.

“We are so similar in style and our vision for things is the same most of the time. It is a very streamlined process and very natural,” Layla says.

“It allows us to sort of dig really deep because we're still two separate people bouncing off of each other but with that similarity. Our friendship just allows us to sink really deeply into our ideas and ways that we want to explore them because we have two of us there to just dissect everything."

Nothing And The Sun has a project page on Instagram @nothingandthesun_film