Documentarian Looking for Subjects to Speak on Heartbreak

Did Valentine’s Day leave you heartbroken? With all the hype on the holiday characterized by special restaurant prix fixes, roses, chocolate, and jewelry, the built-up pressure can easily set go off in the wrong direction.

So, if you recently lost love and want to share your story, you may be able to be in a documentary.

Oscar-nominated Swiss director, Christian Frei is working with casting director and producer Maria Luisa Gambale of Brooklyn to finish his newest project, “Lovelorn in New York.”

“Lovelorn in New York,” which is supposed to hit film festivals in 2014, will try to understand the “agony of romantic rejection,” Gambale told Patch in an interview.

According to the documentary’s site, “It explores the immeasurably difficult path out of self-destructive, obsessive behavior... toward a new self. And it bows to the unwavering desire – despite it all – for love.”

The filmmakers are interested to learn about the rejection experience and will take the audience through a myriad of emotions through their subjects, who have been through the “wonderful, extreme and destructive” emotions of breakups.  

And hopefully, the subjects will overcome their trauma caused by lost love.

Christian Frei is considered to be one of the most renowned contemporary documentary filmmakers, and is known for his previous work like “Space Tourists,” which was the first Swiss film to receive an award at the Sundance Film Festival, “War Photographer” and “The Giant Buddhas.” Frei began his research for “Lovelorn” in 2010 to document the universal phenomenon of love, jealousy and rejection.

However, Frei needs one more subject to tie the documentary together. Due to the tough topic, the new subject will not be on camera. Instead, the filmmaker is asking for a man who recently went through a breakup to record his emotions in an anonymous online journal and then do interviews over the phone.

“We are not trying to put someone in the movie, or else it would be hard to get someone to respond. Heartbreak is hard for people to talk about,” Gambale explained, who has worked on films like “Black Irish” and “Funny Ha Ha.”

“We want the subject to trust the director and they will chronicle their emotional progress casually everyday in the journal,” she said, who will be casting the final subject in the documentary.

If you are worried about feeling at ease while opening up, Gambale said that Frei will be sure to make the subject comfortable:

“Frei is sensitive to human dynamic, very intelligent, nonjudgmental and not sensational,” she explained.

The filming started in New York City last summer and will continue through the fall, with hopes to hit the film festivals in 2014.

So, if you are interested in participating, Gambale said they are looking for a man whose “obsessions with his ex have taken over his life and who would be willing to share his story and his struggle.”

The man has to live in New York, and could be any age, but Frei has a preference for men in their 30’s to 50’s.

The ideal subject would have been through a recent break-up. The movie sympathetically sets up the very real agony of heartbreak, and they are looking for someone who is “unexpectedly devastated, feels emotionally disturbed, and is exhibiting signs of deep obsession that are difficult to stop,” the casting description reads.

“We would like to understand the trauma of romantic rejection and explore the difficult path out of self-destructive obsessive behavior toward a new help,” Gambale explained. “We want to find someone who will let us be a witness to that journey. We’re hopeful that participation would help [the subject] to learn more about their rejection experience as well as recover from it faster and more effectively.”

If you are interested in participating, please e-mail Maria Luisa Gambale at: LOVELORN@GMAIL.com.