Mattias Graham’s award-winning short film Bleach shown at more than 20 festivals worldwide

In the short film Bleach by Mattias Graham, BFA 14 (film production), 16-year-old competitive swimmer Damien clashes with his coach during training. In a parallel storyline, Damien plays with his younger brother at a hotel waterslide, but his thoughts return to the pool. Viewers know there’s trouble beneath the surface.

In just 13 minutes, the film captures the essence of a young man’s struggle with trauma. “The duality of the conflict with the coach and the brother bond was important to me,” explains Graham. “It is closer to the way we experience trauma and find ways to move forward at the same time. The process is not necessarily linear. There are stumbling blocks.”

When writing Bleach, Graham drew on his own days playing water polo in high school in his native Saskatchewan. “The pool is very much a home to me, but later on, a friend of mine who was a competitive swimmer at the time, shared a story with me about how they were assaulted by their coach.”

‘Solidarity and vulnerability’

Working with encouragement from producer and fellow Concordia graduate Emmanuel Hessler, BA 06, Graham wanted the project to focus on truth, tenderness and care. “We were exploring what this kind of solidarity and vulnerability looks like for young men,” says Graham, who worked with consultants at the script stage. “We wanted to make sure the film was truthful to survivors.”

Graham also wanted to create something that would be helpful for victims of abuse. “I was always thinking about how we could make something in a way that a teenage boy might connect.”

Bleach conveys a sense of intimacy but also of threat, both of which Graham achieves with low-lit water scenes shot in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. “Water can be liberating, but it’s also suffocating. Damien loves the water but chooses to leave it by the end.”

Graham wrote the first draft of the film in 2018, then developed it after winning a grant in Société de développement des entreprises culturelles’ (SODEC) Cours écrire ton court 2019, an accelerator program for developing short films. He is grateful to his mentor, director and screenwriter David Uloth, BFA 00, as well as Hessler, who helped him produce the script, which he filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Working with Mattias was such an inspiring experience,” says Hessler. “He demonstrated immense care and sensitivity towards the subject matter and engaged fully with everyone who collaborated on the project.

“I’m keen to discover what other narratives he has in store for us.”