I Used to Live There

I Used to Live There
Directed byRyan McKenna
Written byRyan McKenna
Produced byRyan McKenna
StarringDaniel Gerson
Monika Schneider
CinematographyClark Ferguson
Edited byRyan McKenna
Distributed byLa Distributrice de Films
Release date
Running time
14 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

I Used to Live There is a 2023 Canadian short drama film written, directed, produced, and edited by Ryan McKenna. Blending documentary-style filmmaking with fictional elements, the film stars Daniel Gerson and Monika Schneider as semi-fictionalized versions of themselves, and focuses on the relationship between a photographer who is losing his vision due to a degenerative eye disease and the actress who hired him to take her new headshots.[1]

The film premiered at the 76th Locarno Film Festival in August 2023,[2] and had its Canadian premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[3]

The film was named to TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list for 2023,[4] and received a Prix Iris nomination for Best Live Action Short Film at the 26th Quebec Cinema Awards in 2024.[5]

McKenna previously made another short film about Gerson's struggle with his deteriorating vision, Gerson Workout (2020), for the Greetings from Isolation project.[6]

  1. ^ Pat Mullen, "TIFF Short Cuts Line-up Includes 19 Canadian Films". Point of View, August 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Laurence Boyce, "Europe s'avère un lieu solitaire dans la sélection de courts-métrages de Locarno". Cineuropa, August 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Etan Vlessing, "Riz Ahmed Short ‘Dammi’ Leads Toronto Film Fest’s Short Cuts Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter, August 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Pat Mullen, "TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten Includes BlackBerry, Solo, Humanist Vampire". That Shelf, December 6, 2023.
  5. ^ Éric Lavallée, "Prix Iris 2024: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Leads “Quebec Oscars” Noms". Ioncinema, October 9, 2024.
  6. ^ "Gerson Workout". Greetings from Isolation, May 27, 2020.