Park Pictures' Savanah Leaf Directs Volcanic Film "So Help Me God" for Musician Kelsey Lu
July 14, 2026
The Park Pictures director travelled to a remote region of Lanzarote with singer-songwriter/cellist Kelsey Lu and actor Garance Marillier to make videos, visualisers and a jawdropping short film for Lu's new album. We spoke to her about how the extraordinary project came together. Main photo: Rachel Jones-WilliamsSavanah Leaf could have picked a more straightforward way to return to the world of making visuals for music. Instead, she chose a passion project - one that is itself a vehicle for passion, in its many forms.
The Anglo-American director who won a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut for her first feature Earth Mama has now made a remarkable suite of visuals for the new album by her good friend, the LA-based singer/composer/cellist Kelsey McJunkins - better known as Kelsey Lu. That has involved videos, visualisers and finally, the fully realised short film for the album So Help Me God that offers an intense exploration of a relationship in the starkest of settings.
Filmed in a deserted part of Lanzarote, we witness Lu and French actor Garance Marillier playing lovers at the edge of destruction at the edge of the world; a volcanic relationship played out on the volcanic slopes of this breathtaking island.
The first release from the project, the video for Running To Pain, sets the scene of an emotional dance taking place between the two against extraordinary landscapes, playing out in long takes - the otherworldliness underlined by the incongruous, high fashion clothing worn by the protagonists.
Followed by one-take visuals for the songs Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost - which focus upon intimacy, sensuality and Kelsey Lu's emotional turmoil - and further visualisers, all these different fragments have now been brought together into creating a complete picture. It's the full nearly 17-minute short film to accompany So Help Me God.
Read more on Promonews!