Can you trust your favorite memory? Discover ‘Souvenir’s’ true story
Can you trust your favorite memory? Why Souvenir could be the indie film everyone is talking about after Dances With Films
What was the best day of your life? Not the day that should have been the best—the one you actually remember.
Perhaps it was your first kiss, a graduation, an unforgettable road trip, or an unexpected conversation that quietly changed everything. Whatever memory comes to mind, there’s an uncomfortable question hiding beneath it.
How much of it is actually true?
How much of it is actually true?That question sits at the heart of Souvenir, the debut feature from New York filmmaker David Ketterer Spencer. Premiering at Dances With Films Los Angeles, the independent dramedy follows Kevin and Dani, two old friends who unexpectedly reunite and spend a single day navigating New York City while attempting to return the lost wallet of a deceased self-help guru. Their search leads them through eccentric strangers, suspicious poetry, unresolved emotions and long-buried questions about who they were—and who they’ve become.
It sounds like the setup for an offbeat buddy comedy, and in many ways it is. But beneath the humor lies a thoughtful meditation on friendship, identity and the stories people tell themselves about their own lives.
For Spencer, memory isn’t simply something we retrieve. It’s something we constantly rewrite.
That fascination became the foundation of Souvenir, a film that quietly asks audiences whether the moments defining their lives happened exactly as they remember—or whether memory itself has become another form of storytelling.
Friendship takes center stage
Friendship takes center stageCinema has never struggled to tell love stories. Romantic comedies, sweeping dramas and tragic romances have dominated Hollywood for generations. Friendships, by comparison, are often treated as supporting relationships that exist mainly to serve the central romance.
Spencer wanted to reverse that formula.
“Souvenir is a rom-com where the stakes are a friendship instead of a romance,” he says.
That simple shift changes the emotional engine of the film. Kevin and Dani aren’t trying to decide whether they’ll fall in love. Instead, they’re trying to understand each other after years apart while confronting the different stories they’ve constructed about the same shared past.
Their relationship feels refreshingly familiar because it reflects friendships many people actually have: complicated, unfinished, affectionate and occasionally frustrating.
As Spencer explains, friendships can shape a person’s identity every bit as profoundly as romantic relationships.
“Movies rarely value friendships the way they value romances,” he says. “For me, friendships are as vital, complex, passionate and life-changing as romances.”
That philosophy gives Souvenir a tone that feels surprisingly rare. Rather than relying on romantic tension to create emotional stakes, the film asks whether two people can truly reconnect once time and memory have reshaped both of them.
New York becomes part of the story
New York becomes part of the storyEvery great New York film understands that the city refuses to remain merely a backdrop.
Its noise interrupts conversations. Its crowds alter plans. Its randomness creates opportunities that no screenwriter could invent.
Rather than attempting to control those variables, Spencer embraced them.
The production adopted an unofficial motto: “Let the city in.”
Street basketball games, unpredictable crowds, environmental sounds and chance encounters all found their way into the finished film. Instead of treating these interruptions as obstacles, Spencer incorporated them into the storytelling, allowing New York itself to shape the rhythm of the movie.
The result gives Souvenir an organic quality. The city feels alive rather than staged, making the adventure between Kevin and Dani feel less like a scripted narrative and more like a day discovered as it unfolded.
That approach also complements the film’s central theme. Memories rarely feel perfectly composed. They arrive fragmented, interrupted and influenced by countless details we never planned to notice.
Interview with David Ketterer Spencer (abridged)
Interview with David Ketterer Spencer (abridged)Where did your fascination with unreliable memory begin?
The memory structure existed from the earliest drafts, but it evolved after someone suggested the story didn’t make sense because scenes occurred without Kevin being present. I actually felt that contradiction was the point. It pushed me toward research on memory science and eventually shaped the entire screenplay. Lisa Genova’s book Remember became an important influence.
Why make friendship the emotional center instead of romance?
Movies celebrate romance constantly, but friendships are equally transformative. They deserve the same emotional weight. I wanted to tell a story where saving a friendship mattered just as much as finding love.
Can one ordinary day really change a life?
Absolutely. A day changes your life the moment you begin telling stories about it. Over time, you reshape the memory, and eventually that memory reshapes you.
How personal are Kevin and Dani?
Kevin started as something of a self-portrait, while Dani drew from several people I know. As I continued writing—and once Ruby Cruz and Eric Berryman stepped into the roles—they became entirely their own characters.
The film blends comedy, mystery and drama. Was that balance difficult?
Very. Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be or Not to Be became a huge inspiration because it effortlessly shifts between comedy, suspense and serious drama. I felt confident the emotional material would work, but the comedy required constant attention.
Did a real memory inspire the story?
Yes, but the first versions stayed too close to reality and weren’t especially interesting. Once I began introducing unusual situations and eccentric characters, the story became much more alive.
How important is New York to the film?
It’s essential. We tried to let the city influence everything we were doing. If something unexpected happened during filming, we usually embraced it instead of fighting it.
What was the hardest day on set?
Our final day. We were filming the opening sequence that establishes the movie’s memory structure. It involved complicated lighting, technical effects and strict continuity. It was the only point where I genuinely worried the film might not come together.
What surprised you most about Ruby Cruz?
She brought a darkness to Dani that I hadn’t anticipated. Ruby is naturally very funny, but she found emotional complexity that made the character much richer while keeping audiences invested in her.
Why was Eric Berryman the right Kevin?
He brought lightness. If Kevin becomes too serious, the entire movie changes. Eric has a warmth that allows audiences to experience difficult emotions without losing the film’s humor.
How did the wallet plot originate?
Years ago I found a page from someone else’s diary inside a used book. Eventually that diary became a wallet. Then the wallet needed an owner. That owner became a deceased self-help guru, and suddenly I had the beginning of a feature film.
How did your years as a First Assistant Director prepare you?
They taught me filmmaking as a practical process. I learned how crews function, how productions succeed or fail, and that every decision costs something. Production is always a matter of balancing limited resources.
What advice stayed with you most?
Always acknowledge actors after every take before giving notes. Small moments of encouragement matter. I also learned that directing can sometimes require unpopular decisions, and that’s simply part of the job.
What mistake did you make making your first feature?
We spent too much of our budget during production instead of protecting post-production and marketing. It’s a classic independent filmmaking mistake, and I understand why so many people make it.
What do you hope audiences leave thinking about?
I hope they start examining their own memories—especially the ones they treasure most—and ask themselves how those memories have changed over time.
A filmmaker who learned from the inside
Unlike many first-time directors, Spencer didn’t arrive through viral shorts or online filmmaking communities. Instead, he spent more than a decade working as a First Assistant Director on professional productions including Problemista, After Yang and Y2K.
That experience taught him not only how films are made, but how crews communicate, how productions solve problems and how directors navigate constant compromise.
His filmmaking influences reflect an equally broad education. He cites Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Richard Linklater, David Lynch, Milos Forman and the Duplass Brothers among the artists who shaped his voice, combining classical Hollywood precision with the naturalistic spirit of contemporary independent cinema.
Long before Souvenir, Spencer was already making ambitious projects. While still in high school, he recruited roughly twenty percent of his graduating class to create an unauthorized feature adaptation of I, Lucifer. Although the film never found a public audience beyond his hometown, completing it convinced him that filmmaking was more than a passing interest.
Years later, Souvenir represents the culmination of that persistence.
A film that lingers.
Many independent films advertise themselves as profound before audiences have seen a single frame. Souvenir takes a quieter approach. On its surface it’s an entertaining New York adventure filled with mystery, comedy and eccentric encounters. Underneath, however, sits a deceptively challenging idea: our memories may reveal less about the past than they do about the people we’ve become. That question gives the film surprising emotional depth without sacrificing its accessibility. Whether audiences leave debating what really happened during Kevin and Dani’s day together ultimately matters less than why they remember it differently. For Spencer, that’s exactly the point.
If viewers continue discussing the film after the credits roll, questioning their own memories along the way, then Souvenir has already succeeded.
