Two Million Windows

Reviewing your own film is cheating a bit, so call this a note from the team instead.

We'll be honest: we weren't comfortable making the typical light-hearted "family movie." So late on Friday night, just before bed, we scrapped our plan and changed direction, towards something more serious, built on Ryan's past. It's still a family movie. Just not the kind we expected to make.

We cried a lot on this one. Tears of sadness, tears of joy. It's a quiet film, nearly five minutes, mostly Ryan's voice. We made room for the things that are hard to say out loud.

We hope you watch it. And if you're living something similar, we hope it helps, even a little.

Watching this movie was hard in a way. It opens up old wounds, past hurts and trauma that the viewer may have spent their life pushed down or left unresolved. However, with that said, its story is one of hope, of strength, and of finding a new way forward from a painful beginning. As the review above mentions it is not a typical "family" movie, but it is a movie that has a story that is more relatable to so many of us who have felt at any point in their lives that they didn't fit in. It is a story that uplifts us to know that we will always find a place where we belong.

This is an incredible short film. If you’ve ever had to rebuild a family after losing your own, or after finding that you can no longer return home, it resonates on such a deep level.

In just five minutes, it captures how family can be created even when you feel you have lost everything. The videography is stunning, the sound is exceptional, and you can hear the performer’s voice catch with the weight of genuine reflection and honesty.

Absolutely beautiful and profoundly moving.

Incredible, like poetry. This felt like a story you needed to tell, but also unfortunately one the world still needs to hear. I can't even imagine what the weekend must have been like for you, reliving all of this, but thank you for making it.
It wasn't just an important story, but one told well. Visually stunning - the lighting, the colours, the shots etc, the projected picture over his face. It definitely hit, I was in tears.
And some really stunning lines, including the one you named the film after, 'two million windows in this city, not one of them mine.'
My husband teaches English at a secondary school. He said if you're happy to make this public on YouTube after the competition, he would like to add it to the list of short films he teaches his students.

So many of us have to find our chosen family in lieu of blood, for so many different reasons. A beautiful movie, beautifully shot, beautifully scripted, beautifully edited, and clearly so very personal but such an important message. Thank you for baring your soul and sharing this with us.

This film is just so real. Packs so much feeling into such a short time, with great some great shots underneath. Cool concept, big impact 👏