• Season 9

Enough for a Lifetime

Darby Gaelle Hannon, Benjamin David Hoffman

An artist, heartbroken by the world, transmutes her pain into beauty.
  • Runtime: 6:38

Why we chose this film.

Drawing on personal journal entries, this film captures the feelings of disconnection that can accompany mental health struggles, particularly in the modern world. The protagonist's small but powerful efforts to seek connection with herself and others—from dancing and writing to spending time in nature and making art—offer a possible blueprint for navigating loneliness.

Filmmaker

Inspiration

This film came straight from my personal journal and follows a contemporary and symbolic dark night of the soul experienced through an artist in the world today. This reckoning with finding meaning brought me closer to myself- and from disconnection, I found the deepest connection I had yet to experience in my life. I learned that all darkness comes with the chance of new light. And that in our shadows, lie our greatest strengths. Enough for a Lifetime was meant to capture that inspiration I had found for myself and hopefully for others along the way.

Meet the Filmmaker

Benjamin Hoffman

Director/Editor/DP

Benjamin Hoffman

Director/Editor/DP

Darby is an artist based between New York City, Los Angeles, and London. She has an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, Pre-Medicine from Indiana University, studying as well in Spain, Costa Rica, and South Africa. While working as a research assistant in a Genetics laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center, she began to study Meisner Technique at the Maggie Flanigan Acting Studio. After deciding to leave science, she received her MFA in Professional Acting from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. As a writer/director she has studied with and been invited multiple times as a guest artist to work with the prestigious and groundbreaking LAByrinth Theatre Company in New York City, and had her work selected for the Manhattan Theatre Festival’s 2021 season (which she directed and acted in as well). Previous one-acts of hers, Dissonant Lovers and Big Nothings, have also premiered in New York City at the Kraine Theatre and Signature Theatre. Her short films Letters From a Traveler and Enough for a Lifetime (both of which she wrote/starred in) have premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Santa Fe International Film Festival, and and Nòt Film Festival. Currently, she has a few other films in various stages of production. This is her first full length play.

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