Who could have guessed that one of the most socially prescient works of 2025 is based on a story from 175 years ago?
That’s the fascinating genesis of “The Singers,” which is quickly becoming one of the most fêted short films of the year. The piece, from director Sam Davis, was inspired when he read Ivan Turgenev’s short story “The Singers,” which was included in George Saunders’ book of literary analysis, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.” In the text, a group of gruff men at a bar finds connection by baring their souls in an impromptu singing competition. In an interesting twist, Davis was first inspired to adapt the old work when juxtaposing it with a modern medium.
“I thought it was cool, but I didn’t come away from it thinking I want to make a film about this,” he said. “That happened moments later when I opened my phone, and the first video that popped up was a viral video of a guy busking in the subway station. It was the most beautiful, soulful, raw performance I had ever heard.The idea for adapting it was suddenly so crystal clear: I would retell this 1850 Russian short story, but with all these really unsuspecting, viral video singing talents who we would curate from TikTok and YouTube and Instagram from all over the world. Then we can fill a bar up with this group of geniuses in the rough, hiding in plain sight in a pub.”
Sam Davis directing “The Singers.”
Photo by Jordan Cramer
The result is a bold mix of classic filmmaking and new techniques. Davis doubled down on the risk of hiring non-professional actors by not writing a traditional script, instead letting his unique talent improvise much of their dialogue, the looseness of which drew on Davis’ experience in the documentary world. Additionally, the project was shot on 35mm to create a rich look for the warm story, and the music was recorded live on set — two challenging maneuvers that added to the vérité.
Also timeless about this film is that it naturally speaks to the so-called “male loneliness epidemic,” a social issue that has had plenty of ink spilled about it over the last year as more and more friendships are dulled by a very-online culture.
“That was definitely my takeaway from the original short story: ‘Wow, this is a lowly pub in 1850 and a group of men who are these hard shells of men,’” Davis says. “The lengths that a little bit of vulnerability goes to forming a community and having this moment of connection. I grew up in a small town in Michigan — definitely not a place where we are healthy communicators of our emotions, especially as men. I think making this film was a bit of me bearing my soul. Each of the characters in the film is opening up in a radical way for them. But on a meta level, that was what really drew me to this: The power of, especially for men, being open to connecting and sharing and discovering that the guy you’re sitting next to at the bar actually has a lot in common with you, and for that to result in something cathartic.”
Connections have also been built between “The Singers” and audiences. After a world premiere at South by Southwest, the film has gone onto receive over 25 festival awards, including grand prize winner at the Provo, Utah, festival Filmquest. ” I’m Not a Robot,” which won FilmQuest’s top honors in 2024, ended up winning the Academy Award for best live action short film this year.
Davis, who is already an Academy Award nominee for producing the 2023 short film “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” hopes that any further success for the Oscar-qualifying short film inspires more people to seek out its unique take on art and vulnerability.
“These two very disparate pieces of media merged in this really beautiful way and crystallized into a specific vision,” Davis says. “I think it’s a fun way to have a subversive approach to using the algorithm to make something very human and handmade and analog.”
Watch the teaser trailer and see the poster for “The Singers” below.
Courtesy poster (ft. painting by Paul Mellender)
