From Director Rahel Grunder;

Liner Notes grew out of an interest in people who disappear, and in those who keep listening long after the music has stopped. Set in the nocturnal spaces of New York City, the film follows a journalist circling a decades-old mystery, where memory, guilt, love and obsession begin to blur.

The short was conceived as a standalone piece and as a distillation of a much larger, nonlinear feature spanning several time periods. Distilling that story into a few minutes without flattening its ambiguity became the film’s guiding principle.

Rather than offering closure, Liner Notes embraces uncertainty. I was drawn to the idea of not explaining its mystery, but circling it — exploring what lingers when a life, a song, or a relationship ends without resolution. It’s a quiet thriller about listening closely: to voices from the past, to what is left unsaid, and to the moment when a story stops being about someone else and becomes our own.

On a personal level, it was a joy to shoot in New York City with a largely female-led team. That sense of collaboration, curiosity, and play made the process as meaningful as the film itself.