Sam Davis On Balancing Light, Song, and Loneliness for ‘The Singers’

Imagine walking into a bar on a snowy, frigid night. You just need a drink to warm your body. The men who populate this speakeasy are swapping stories or keeping to themselves–taking comfort in the dwindling liquor in each of their glasses. Every time the door opens, another gust of wintry cold bursts forward giving these weary gents another reason to order yet another round. With his Oscar shortlisted Live Action Short, The Singers, director Sam Davis draws us into a world that feels achingly familiar but entirely singular. It is an unexpected fable about connection, brotherhood, and being vulnerable.

There is a certain expectation that we bring when we enter the bar and see the men populating the space. Some are older, some are grizzled, and some have a hardness to their demeanor that would spook a casual or unfamiliar patron. What Davis’ film does, though, is subvert every expectation when a singing competition breaks out between the crowd. Are we more competitive around strangers? Do we feel less inhibited to feel vulnerable? Stepping up and singing your favorite tune can make even the most seasoned singer feel wary, but Davis shows how that openness can bond us. At the end of our chat, Davis even reveals what he would sing if he threw his hat in the ring.

One of The Singers‘ strongest elements is how this bar’s atmosphere lulls you in. There are numerous shots of the bar from the side, and we see all of these men in profile. Even in the darkness, the light captures every line on their faces as the night presses on. I love how Davis allows the presence of everyone to fill the frame, and the filmmaker explains how they used the light bouncing off the bar to illuminate these meetings. Perhaps some of these men prefer to hide in the shadows–or from their own feelings–but they cannot escape from that curious light that finds the history an anxiousness as the singing contest sparks something new between them all.

What comes through most unexpectedly, though, is how The Singers sinks its hooks into us. How is proves that the most sudden, truest truths transpire when we least expect it from those we may have counted out. I guarantee you that these men never thought they would have been so unguarded with one another, and we cannot ignore that they might carry those feelings after last call–after the final notes of their favorite song finishing wafting through the air.