Permanent Collection

Ordinary Folk Goes the “Distance” in Powerful New Short Film

Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2026

Illuminating a small chapter of American History that is both heartbreaking and inspiring, Ordinary Folk’s latest passion project assembles 900 hand-painted frames into a moving tribute to an unlikely hero.

Based on an episode of Nate DiMeo’s podcast The Memory Palace, the film recounts the story of Samuel Finley Breese Morse. His years as a painter, his personal story, and the path that led him to revolutionize communication as the inventor of Morse code.

From Ordinary Folk: “This project began as one of our earliest passion pieces in 2020. It went through multiple visual explorations and experiments, guided by a long list of talented collaborators.”

Images

A person at a desk uses a brush and black ink to draw architectural floor plans on paper, reflecting the artistic process seen in the Ordinary Folk short film Distance, while a monitor shows digital design software in the background. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A person in a blue sweater sits in the center of a room on a large grid of printed photo contact sheets, evoking a sense of distance among the Ordinary Folk. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

A solitary black figure stands in the center of an abstract short film composition featuring scattered gray and black rectangular shapes that evoke a sense of distance. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Two stylized, geometric hands from the short film Distance reach toward each other in a black-and-white illustration, with a small white square floating above the center. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

An abstract ink wash painting shows a geometric hand from Distance holding a long thin line that extends to a dark rectangular border at the bottom, evoking the weary hands of ordinary folk. Frame from Stash Magazine article.

Credits

Production: Ordinary Folk
Director: Ordinary Folk
Writer/EP: Nate DiMeo
CD: Jorge R. Canedo E., Avikali Lomavatu
Producer: Stefan Green, Mona Fani
Visual Development: Grace Pedersen, Avikali Lomavatu, Lorena G., Josh Edwards, Grace Choi, Gabriel Silveira, Haewon Shin, Mariia Khrystenko, Sophia Spanos McGill
Storyboard: Avikali Lomavatu, Grace Pedersen
Animator: Greg Stewart, Manuel Neto, Ricardo Drehmer, Victor Silva, Jorge R. Canedo E.
Painter: Avikali Lomavatu
Compositor: Jorge R. Canedo E., Victor Silva

Music/Sound Design: Ambrose Yu

Special Thanks: Jay Preston

Stephen Price

Stephen is the co-founder/CD of Stash Media Inc. and the executive editor of Stash Magazine and the Stash Permanent Collection.
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Category: Featured, Illustration, Short Films · Tags: Ambrose Yu, Avikali Lomavatu, Jorge R. Canedo Estrada, Nate DiMeo, Ordinary Folk