Rob Munday

Aiming to portray the “intricacies of a friendship between a gay man and a straight man” without the cliche ending, Tyler Rabinowitz (See You Soon) returns to S/W with Catalina, a sun-drenched short where the landscapes are as hazy as the boundaries. Introducing us to a trio of childhood friends as they sail away for a hiking trip, hoping to get reacquainted, we join their adventure as an invisible fourth wheel, eavesdropping on their conversations and unravelling their dynamic.

Inspired by his own holidays to Catalina Island in his youth, writer/actor Sam DiGiovanni (who plays Gus) explains that the central relationship between his character and Will (Ronald Peet) was inspired by the “fuzzy, intimate and sometimes tension-filled friendships” that he had with his straight friends on those trips. All too aware of how a queer film with this storyline was expected to unravel, admitting that he’d “never seen a film that depicted the intricacies of a friendship between a gay man and a straight man, without the outcome being that the gay one was hopelessly in love or that the straight one was secretly gay”, when penning the script DiGiovanni was eager to defy expectations with Catalina. 

Ben Holtzmuller (L), Sam DiGiovanni & Ronald Peet (R) star as the trio of friends at the centre of Catalina

With the premise in place, you might be expecting Catalina to attack its subject matter in a head-on, almost aggressive manner – again this is perhaps what we’ve come to expect from similar stories – but Rabinowitz employs a much more subtle and gentle approach, never forcing the situation but letting it untangle itself at a measured pace. For a film centred around a relaxing getaway, that’s an apt choice, but it’s also an important element in what makes Catalina standout as its this slant that helps amplify the short’s intimate atmosphere.

And it’s this closeness we share in relationships that is one of the key themes in Catalina, as DiGiovanni explains: “I’ve joked before that, if you’re a male-identifying person, you have probably struggled with male intimacy in one way or another. Not necessarily sexual intimacy but platonic, emotional, or physical intimacy, too. And so with Catalina, I not only wanted to explore the friendship dynamic between a gay man and a straight man but also what happens when friends decide to push through those boundaries and explore beyond the traditional boundaries of ‘friendship’.”

To help focus on the importance of intimacy within the storyline, there’s a strong focus on touch within Catalina, with Rabinowitz and his DP Oren Soffer dwelling on the smaller shared moments between Gus and Will – who would have thought that the simple overlapping of legs could portray so much tension? Despite these palpable moments, there’s also a dreamlike quality to the short, as the director captures that haziness that comes with an idyllic holiday. There are segments of the film so striking you could easily imagine the island repurposing them for a tourist ad and at times it almost feels like the location is a fourth character in the plot. The setting may steal certain scenes, but ultimately Rabinowitz always brings it back to the humans at the core of the story, as they are the vital heart and soul in the film’s success.

“Catalina dives beneath the surface of labels and rigid definitions of sexuality and gender and dares to depict the deep desire we all have to be intimate and to be understood” – Rabinowitz & DiGiovanni

With Rabinowitz claiming that they wanted “every frame of Catalina to feel raw and real, while also epic and dreamy” – the latter really helped by the carefree vibes of songwriter Leland’s original score – he hoped that by aiming for these qualities he would perfectly portray what a camping trip with your best friends feels like. The only times in my own younger days when I shared tent space with my friends was at Glastonbury festival here in the UK and although that experience was certainly “hazy”, it was nowhere near as picturesque as this. Although my own experiences were very different to the ones in this holiday hotspot, by immersing his audience in his on-screen world Rabinowitz is looking to create a “core memory” for his viewers and hopes “to make them feel as though they were right there with our characters on this camping trip”. You don’t need to relate to the specifics, just the emotions at play.

Now in the casting and financing development stage on his first feature, which he’s set to direct in 2023, Rabinowitz also has several other projects – ranging from film/tv to podcasts – in various stages of planning. “I like to have a small slate of work so that whenever something stalls I can shift focus to whatever it is that I can move forward that day”, the director reveals as we wind-up our interview. “I’m discerning about what these projects are and how many I’m allowing myself to develop at once; but, I do like to dream far into the future”.

We’re looking forward to seeing those dreams come to fruition sometime soon Tyler.