Whispers: Waves of the Diary

Whispers: Waves of the Diary is an experimental short film essay that poetically explores the coastal town of Whitstable through a deeply introspective and sensorial lens. Rather than presenting a conventional narrative, the film constructs a visual diary—an emotional cartography of memory, place, and time—where the boundaries between observation and reflection blur into one continuous cinematic meditation.

You can watch the film here.

Strongly influenced by the spirit of French Avant-garde cinema, particularly the impressionist and surrealist movements of the 1920s and 1930s, the film draws inspiration from the likes of Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein. These early pioneers embraced abstraction, non-linear storytelling, and a heightened sensitivity to rhythm, light, and movement—all of which resonate in Whispers: Waves of the Diary. This influence is evident in the film’s prioritisation of mood and texture over plot, and in its evocative use of natural elements—wind, sea, light, and architecture—to evoke internal states of being.

A central technique used in the film is the phantom ride, a device rooted in early cinema that involves placing the camera at the front of a moving vehicle to create a continuous forward motion. In this context, it is reimagined to reflect a stream-of-consciousness movement, as if the viewer is gliding through the physical and emotional landscapes of the filmmaker’s memories. This technique contributes to the film’s trance-like quality, emphasising fluidity and immersion. Long takes, dissolves, and superimpositions further accentuate the ethereal passage of time and thought.

The town of Whitstable—its sunsets, quiet streets, yachts, and the gentle roar of its waves—becomes both the setting and the protagonist. The film transforms everyday surroundings into a poetic experience, portraying Whitstable not just as a location but as a living diary, full of whispers, absences, and resonances. Music by AudioCoffee weaves through the visuals, accompanying diegetic sounds and whispered inner monologues that act more like fragments of thought than conventional dialogue. The absence of overt narration allows space for the viewer’s interpretation, fostering a collaborative emotional experience between filmmaker and audience.

Whispers: Waves of the Diary is, at its core, a cinematic reverie—an invitation to pause, to drift, and to listen. It challenges the viewer to engage not with story, but with sensation, atmosphere, and memory. Through its experimental form and philosophical tone, the film asks how a place can hold onto emotions, how time carves itself into space, and how the cinematic image can whisper what words cannot say.