Once There Was, Once There Wasn't
On December 19th, 2005 a small seaplane flying from Miami to the Bahamas exploded and crashed, killing the two pilots and 17 passengers. Port of Miami was shut down, cruise liners were diverted from the area, and FBI agents were sent to investigate.
There was no evidence of any terrorist involvement.
This is the historical foundation for “Once There Was, Once There Wasn't” (2007), the third collaboration by director Emre Safak and writer Mark Fullmer for Olive Barrel Productions.
In planning the film, Safak and Fullmer wanted to create a story that explored cultural crosscurrents of post 9/11 America. Fullmer found the report of the Miami plane crash and thought it said something significant about America's zeitgeist: that an otherwise routine (albeit tragic) crash would garner such immediate, arguably impulsive response illustrated America's fear, sense of vulnerability, and need to act.
But “Once There Was, Once There Wasn't” does not attempt to tell a national story. It refracts the Miami crash through the lens of the personal, exploring how two people of different backgrounds living in America might be affected by such an event.
Thus we meet Ben, a born-and-bred New Englander, impulsive and patriotic, whose since-college girlfriend, Emine, is a proud immigrant to America, patient and hardworking, and loyal to her Turkish heritage. All relationships will have their share of struggles and misunderstandings, and this has long been the stuff of screenplays. But the cultural gap between these two, and the challenges it leads to, potentially highlights a more contemporary picture of relationships, particularly in this era of globalization and fear over terrorism. How do we marginalize another's culture, even unintentionally, through an offhand remark? How do our pastimes, our pledges of allegiance, our foods and folktales show how we are more similar than different? How might a simple event, a plane crash heard on the radio, be the catalyst that tests our loyalties—to family, to country, and to our partner?
Intro | Cast | Synopsis | Script Excerpt | Watch