Two Steps Toward Each Other: Bear Damen on Synthesizers, Grief, and Connection
Violeta reads sheet music in a vintage synth studio.
Bear Damen.
Bear Damen is a Dutch-Indonesian filmmaker known for his emotionally resonant and visually arresting storytelling. Having spent his teenage years sailing around the world with his family, Bear brings a global perspective and poetic depth to his work. His films often explore the quiet complexities of human connection and miscommunication. With a background in both narrative and short-form content, including award-winning music videos for artists like James Blake and Mac DeMarco. Bear’s latest short film, Synthesize Me, premiered in competition at SXSW 2025.
How did Synthesize Me come to be what was the motive or inspiration for telling this story?
I used to make a lot of music with synthesizers. I still do as a hobby. I always had in the back of my mind this story about someone playing synthesizers and that evolved into a more solid thing. I really want wanted the synthesizers to be a very integral, immovable components in the story. It couldn't just be something in the peripheral or decoration. Electricity became the universal theme and a metaphor in the film between a relationship. I was traveling through Mexico. I love Mexico. I realized that while traveling from Mexico City to Valle de Bravo, I came across liminal town that kind of exists in a space with scattered houses underneath electricity pylons that go to the big city. I thought that was just an interesting aesthetically conceptually place. Mexico has a charmingly, janky electricity system that is not always as functionalize as here in amsterdam.
Grief is a central theme in your film how did you approach portraying such an emotional journey in such a short format?
It's personal, not in the least because of the loss, but also, without loss, there are a lot of complexes you can have with your parent. And of course, there are difficulties with having your — in my case, my dad — kind of understand what I do. It's a world that he is not very familiar with. It takes a little time to understand; it takes courage and vulnerability to sort of let it be known that is something you struggle with. So again, I wanted to let the synthesizer be the catalyst where all of that, all those emotions, surfaced. So, obviously, (in the short film) you learn that the mother is not there anymore. That puts a little tension underneath their (the father and daughter) relationship. The daughter revealed that she had a very strong relationship with her mother and has a relationship with her dad, but it's definitely more traditional and a little bit colder. I think what happened with the dad is that he blocked it out (after his wife passed). Maybe it scares him, maybe, deep down, he doesn't want to be associated with or didn’t want to feel those things. And his go-to emotion is just to block. This story is just two people doing two steps towards each other, that’s it. It doesn’t try to be too round. That’s the beauty of short films.
Your work often explores the subtle fractures in human connection. What draws you to these themes?
I'm always surprised how people, including myself, sometimes don't understand each other, and we don't make big efforts to actually understand each other. People always have three dimensions, if not more! It's hard to get a full picture of someone. It takes time, and it also takes effort, and it takes engagement. With family, it's kind of more painful. If you spend a lot of time together, which you do as a family, then it's more painful to learn that someone in your family still doesn't really understand why you do certain things , or why, you know, why you flood emotionally, or why you do something irresponsible. This, even though she's (Violeta) very young, is kind of an exploration of that. I think it's the first time she sees that her dad has responsibilities, and he's actually making their life possible, and she might not have really understood that before. Everything I do tends to have an underlying theme of that.
Poster for Synthesize Me, SXSW 2025 selection featuring Violeta.
This film is set in Mexico, and you collaborated with Mexican cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo and actress Ivanna Plantier. As a non-Mexican filmmaker, how did you approach representing Mexican culture authentically in your film?
Involve only Mexicans. I think the only thing not Mexican in this production was my passport. I love Mexico, I travel there often. I am not Mexican, but I have a lot of friends there, so I feel like I do have an in into the culture. I do have an in to people that will set me straight, like if I do something really non-Mexican or there's just something weird about it. Like, for instance, technically, this is a period piece. There are questions I have like did people really go to the abuela giving away the lemonade, was that really a thing in the '80s? Luckily, I had so many great people, including our Alfonso, but also our AD Aldo, who was always there to help me and sort of think with us. And the producers from Violeta, which is a Mexican city-based, female-run production company. The other key thing is that the focus of the film is not, per se, Mexican culture. The focus of the film is the synthesizer, so that kind of helps. But I think those elements, and having all these amazing Mexican people gave me the confidence.
What was the most challenging scene to shoot, and why?
The scene where she runs outside and everything explodes was challenging because we didn't have a lot of money and they were actually real. You can only do that, like, twice. And it was kind of stressful because I was afraid that Ivana (actress who play Violeta) would, run too far or one of those sparks would go into her eye and all that stuff. (Also) It’s golden hour and you're losing time so there was a little bit of a time crunch on that one. The other thing was when she was playing the synthesizer in her mother’s studio. She was amazing, but she shut down when she had to perform, 'cause it was,a little bit too intimidating for her being on a film set. And absolutely not her fault, but she couldn’t really do it. And so we had to do something else, and I, ended up using my hands, but defocusing them. That was a little stressful because I didn’t plan those shots.
How do you see the short film format evolving in the digital age?
In the last 15 years, all short filmmakers have had this question, because it seems like such a perfect thing. This is our attention span now, 15 minutes. This should be the new Netflix. But still, we don't really see it. I think people like to invest in characters. I love short form. It’s hard to write for the short format. It's not as big as a project to wrap your head around, but it is really hard to write a really great short film. And I've seen many great shorts. I find it really amazing if you can say what you want to say in 15 minutes. I hope there will be more official distribution in shorts. If someone starts an official account that has some sort of exclusivity, it would be great, if a Neon or A24 created that platform. Obviously the numbers are going to be way lower than features, but there could be a cool distribution platform there.Aside from that, I think factually, it's going to be platforms, like YouTube.
What advice would you give to emerging filmmakers who want to tell stories similar like yours?
I would say focus on small parts. So don’t focus on writing a feature film, I mean, definitely write a feature film, but why it's hard to write a feature film is because it’s so overwhelming to write so much at the same time. Just focus on the arcs of one character or chop it down in chunks. For short films... For me, as a writer, that is the hardest thing is writing. I have a hard time focusing, I have ADHD, it’s a really difficult thing to do. So for me: break it down in chunks. First write down the general piece, what you want to say. And also forget about: is it producible or not? Is it in a house with two characters? The other answer is: just do it. I could say grab an iPhone and do it. I would more say grab an FX3 and do it. These days go out in the real world and shoot characters in the real world. I really love that style. I really love it when people do sort of a documentary style. And it’s easy to do, it’s kind of free.
What has been the most rewarding part of sharing your work?
Just being there and talking to people after is the greatest thing about festivals. I have not done a lot of festivals, this is basically my first. I’ve done music videos, but I’ve never done big festivals like SXSW. That actually was kind of a first: selling my own work. It’s scary, but it’s also so amazing at the same time. And then the relief afterwards, and the reactions. People will always have a connection to your work. That’s the beauty of film.
Are there any future projects we should look out for from you?
I'm writing two features. One of them is in development here in the Netherlands, and then the other one I’m outlining. The next step would be writing it. But I’m super excited about it, and it’s going to take a little bit of time. There’s another short that I’ve written that is going into production this summer, which is called Tiny Little Cuts, and I can’t wait to share that with the world. Also, I shot a music video for a band called Weval, which is going to come out this summer as well.
