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Description:
Ed I Hide (2006)
Eddie and Anna have had a fight. Needing to get away, Eddie decides to head out to the woods for a camping weekend. Along for the ride is his light-hearted buddy, Ward. After stopping for some gas and groceries, they are nature bound.

Ward attempts to keep things light as he searches for topics of conversation, but Eddie just becomes more and more agitated. The two try to find a truce somewhere between giddiness and exasperation. Reaching the wilderness allows the two to exhale as they settle into camp. However, the peace is short-lived, for they are soon joined by an enigmatic vagabond who stirs the pot of Eddie’s emotions and serves as a catalyst for his unwinding.

Awards:
•  Best Director: Foursite Film Festival
•  Golden Remi, Best Action Suspense Short: Worldfest Houston
•  Honorable Mention, Best Short: New York International Independent Film and Video Festival
•  Silver Medal, Best Use of Music in a Short: Park City Music in Film Festival

Film Festivals:
Sonoma Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Temecula Valley, The Other Venice, Twin Rivers Multimedia Festival, Bend, Breckenridge, Oxford, LA Shortsfest, Century City, Poppy Jasper, Long Island International Film Expo, Indiefest, Golden Lion, Action on Film, Park City Music, California Independent, Big Island, West Chester.

Writer/Director Statement:
Ed I Hide is an allegorical look at what one goes through to come into balance within. When Edward is faced with a life choice, in this case marriage to Anna, he must come to terms with himself before he can move forward. Ed and Ward are two facets of the same person. Ed represents the more aggressive, solar, fire, masculine side whereas Ward represents the more passive, lunar, water, feminine side. As the film begins Ed is in control (in the driver’s seat) while Ward is along for the ride. Slowly and tentatively at first Ward confronts Ed. As the film proceeds Ward must become more and more overt about how he confronts Ed until in the end Ward and Ed have switched places with Ward aggressively subduing Ed.

When most people meet Ed they think that he is merely a selfish jerk and that Anna should just dump him and leave. To do that would be missing the point. Ed is really only that part in us all that aggressively clings to that which is familiar and wholly his own. Ed’s chief motivation is fear of the unknown, fear of losing himself, fear of failure. Anna does not want to leave Edward because she is fully aware that Ward is part of the equation. Ward is always everyone’s favorite because he is open, and seemingly non-threatening. One must realize though that it is Ward who slowly unties the knot that is Eddie. Ward is quirky, fun, sympathetic but he also knows how to confront Ed in a round about way. When being straightforward and asking why Ed doesn’t want to marry Anna doesn’t work, Ward approaches the subject by means of the palindrome game, then when that hits a dead end, he conjures that enigmatic wisdom that lies deep in all of us, the character, Noel Leon. When that stalls, he tries the earnestness of the heart to heart talk. Finally, when Eddie has done all he can to hang on to himself, he is driven to the dark wilderness of his soul. Here, Ward is actively pursuing Ed. Ed has gone from being the aggres­sive, hostile facet to the fear-filled prey. Ward has had to abandon the submissive clown role to become more active. Here in the wilder­ness the two sides face each other and come into balance.

In writing this piece I tried as much as possible to infuse each line with meaning and to avoid any dialogue that was unnecessary. Therefore, almost every line has an alternate meaning. Nowhere is this more evident than in the palindrome scene. The most notable line being, "Eddie would be palindrome if you got rid of the I." If we all had a little less ego we could be more balanced. And of course, when Ward asks Noel "Are you all alone out here?" Noel replies, "Me, myself and I."

There are many bits of symbolism scattered throughout the film. Most are rather simple such as Ward always with his bottle of water and Eddie with his cigarette. Others are more obscure, like the two-sided playing card hanging from the rear view mirror or Anna handing him the light after Eddie says he doesn’t know what he is looking for. From their food choices in the store to the roles they take when setting up camp, all is an expression of their roles in the self. I dare not mention any more, for fear of taking all the fun out of searching the film for clues. As many viewers have told me afterward, you have to see it many times to get it all. That is the idea. Have fun.

— Suzanna Laine