In this week’s Audience Awards staff pick film, Sink or Swim, directed by Michael Cameneti, Devin Broadbent is reminded of his mortality on a daily basis. Battling cystic fibrosis, Devin gives us an inside look into the disease’s effects both physically and mentally and his process of living with it.
Devin has lived most of his life from a hospital bed. He has watched the world go by and go on without him. Every decision in his life is layered with fear, his travels, his job, and love. Nonetheless, Devin is determined to live his life the way he wants to and not let fear or cystic fibrosis dictate his actions. Devin wisely stated, “The only way to overcome fear is through action.” -Devin Broadbent. Michael Cameneti is a freelance filmmaker and composer from Canton, Ohio. Cameneti has been in love with film since he was a 10-year-old playing with his father’s super 8mm camera. Since then, Cameneti has created quite the resume for himself, working on documentaries, fictional narratives and branded films. Cameneti teamed up with ENDPAIN to create content and share stories, like Sink or Swim, that show and inspire others that there is always a silver lining.
Cameneti admitted that Sink or Swim was a difficult story to tell and explained,
Coming up with our story was tough. The visual metaphor of Devin bailing water out of the boat came after a few months of Devin and I meeting over coffee to really dig in and tell this story in a unique way. We knew we didn’t want to create another basic documentary with talking heads and basic b-roll, so being patient and really digging into what CF feels like to a survivor was a crucial part of getting it right. Our crew did a great job finding the boat, location scouting…it adds so much to the scenes.
The Audience Awards team was immediately charmed and inspired by Devin Broadbent. Like any good film, we were sad to see the credits roll in and the documentary concluded. After talking with Cameneti, viewers wanting to know more about Devin’s story seems to be a trend.
Cameneti explained,
This project has been ongoing since early 2016. We actually plan to have a bit lengthier short doc (around 30-34 minutes or so) for a final & completed version in 2018. We have been capturing things here and there for this project to tell a more complete story.
Watch Sink or Swim by Michael Cameneti
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