Film School Shorts – Bitch Flicks

‘Fanny Pack’: An Indian American Woman Pursues Her Dreams in Woman-Directed Short Film

Directed by Uttera Singh, “traditional values and modern dreams collide in this comedy about a young Indian-American woman who attempts to elude her fanny pack-clad father and board a plane in pursuit of a less conventional future. The film was inspired by the filmmaker’s own experiences of traveling in the U.S. as a recent citizen.”

Fanny Pack is a short film directed by Uttera Singh, which she made at USC. It’s also one of the premiere short films for the fifth season of Film School Shorts. The principal cast includes Dorothy Blue, Jerilyn Clayton, and Brian George.

ABOUT FANNY PACK:
“Traditional values and modern dreams collide in this comedy about a young Indian-American woman who attempts to elude her fanny pack-clad father and board a plane in pursuit of a less conventional future. The film was inspired by the filmmaker’s own experiences of traveling in the U.S. as a recent citizen.”

“When you’re brown, airports are a fun family activity,” says Singh, “My family has been stopped at airports more frequently than I can remember.”

ABOUT UTTERA SINGH:
“Drama has always been a part of Uttera Singh’s life. On the day she was born, her mother, who was nine months pregnant, was hit by a firecracker, and her father rescued her and rushed her to the hospital to deliver the baby. That’s how Uttera — a real life firecracker — was born and that same fiery spirit is still very much alive in her. Uttera is a 2016 MFA graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She is a recipient of one of the first ever Ryan Murphy Diversity Fellowships and just finished directing her thesis film, Fanny Pack starring Brian George (Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld), a proof of concept for a half-hour TV show. Her one-woman show “Indian Lady Shakespeare wears Underwear” is set to premiere in Los Angeles in the fall of 2016. While still attending USC, Uttera was chosen as one of the directors on the USC/James Franco feature film Mad Whale starring Camilla Belle, Dominic Rains, Summer Phoenix, and James Franco. Uttera lives in Los Angeles. She spends her time going on adventures and then writing about them.”

You can follow Uttera Singh on Twitter @uttera. Filmmaker bio and film description courtesy of Film School Shorts.

ABOUT FILM SCHOOL SHORTS AND KQED:

“Film School Shorts is a national half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country. Each week, viewers can watch well-crafted films with high production values, strong dialogue and riveting drama. Grouped together around a central theme or topic, and featuring production values that rival their indie film counterparts, KQED is proud to present award winning entertainment to a national audience. Featured are the best short films from major institutions like NYU, Columbia University, UCLA, USC, and University of Texas that have wowed audiences at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Telluride, and SXSW.”

“KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st-century classrooms. A trusted news source and leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.”

‘Busted on Brigham Lane’: A Woman-Directed Short Film about a Young Woman’s Reconciliation with Her Father

“When Momo spots her estranged father on the subway, she’s determined to reconcile their relationship in time for her 18th birthday party, despite her sister’s misgivings. Will the family be able to reconnect, or will Pop let Momo down once again?”

Busted on Brigham Lane is a short film directed by Talibah Newman, which she made at Columbia University. The principal cast includes Susan Heyward (Vinyl, Powers), Rob Morgan (Daredevil, Stranger Things), and Pernell Walker (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt).

“Born in Dallas, Talibah Newman first came to New York City as a freshman attending Columbia University. After receiving her bachelor’s in Film and Creative Writing, Talibah braved New York City and landed several internships and production jobs in her field with companies such as Ted Hope’s This is That Production Company, Jonathan Demme’s Clinica Estetico, and Malcolm Lee’s Blackmaled Productions. As an M.F.A. student, Talibah sought to tell stories of familial relationships, precocious children, single character journeys into recreating identity, obstructing prejudice, and the complicated mosaic of spirituality and faith.

“Talibah is the 2012 Directors Guild of America winner in the African American Category for her film Busted on Brigham Lane, which was licensed to HBO for exhibition in 2012. HBO also licensed Talibah’s Sweet Honey Chile’, which also won the Martha’s Vineyard Short Film Award Competition and was screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the American Black Film Festival, and the Cannes Film Festival, among others. She’s also produced two short webseries, Famous Farrah and First Dates. Talibah is currently securing financing for her debut feature film and working on an original television pilot.”

You can follow Talibah Newman on Twitter @TalibahLNewman. Filmmaker bio and film description courtesy of Film School Shorts.

ABOUT FILM SCHOOL SHORTS AND KQED

Film School Shorts is a national half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country. Each week, viewers can watch well-crafted films with high production values, strong dialogue and riveting drama. Grouped together around a central theme or topic, and featuring production values that rival their indie film counterparts, KQED is proud to present award winning entertainment to a national audience. Featured are the best short films from major institutions like NYU, Columbia University, UCLA, USC and University of Texas that have wowed audiences at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Telluride and SXSW.

KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st-century classrooms. A trusted news source and leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

‘The First Date’: A Woman-Directed Short Film about LGBTQ Dating

“Amanda recently went on a blind date with Kelly, the perfect woman. Unfortunately, their romantic encounter didn’t go so well. Amanda retreats to her work bathroom to vent to her friend Jill, but both are in for a shock when they find out there’s someone else there hanging onto their every word.”

The First Date is a short film directed by Janella Lacson as part of the OutSet Film Mentoring Program with Outfest. The principal cast features Sonal Shah, Natalie Dreyfuss, and Kate Miller.

https://youtu.be/vRhQmvM_8WA

“Janella Honorio Lacson always had a growing passion for cinema and the art of filmmaking, leading her to participate in art and theater-related classes. Having several self-published novels, screenplays, and short-films under her belt well before her 19th birthday, Janella’s strongest desire was to be a screenwriter and director. Her first short film The First Date, was produced in March 2012 with the help of LifeWorks and Outfest Film Festival while Janella was a student at California State University, Northridge. The First Date first screened at Fusion Film Festival (Los Angeles), OutFest Film Festival (Los Angeles), and NewFest Film Fesival (New York).

“Janella recently completed her BFA at Tisch School of Arts at New York University.”

You can follow Janella Lacson on Twitter @RELACSONME. Filmmaker bio and film description courtesy of Film School Shorts.

ABOUT FILM SCHOOL SHORTS AND KQED

21 Short Films by Women Directors

This guest post written by Film School Shorts appears as part of our theme week on Women Directors.

Hopefully you’ve caught Film School Shorts on a PBS station near you. We’re a national half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country, and fortunately for us, the gender makeup of film schools is very different than that of Hollywood proper. Programs at AFI, Columbia, UCLA, NYU, and CalArts are full of women learning how to direct, write, produce, and animate their own films. Which means that when it comes time for us to pick shorts for our show, we have a lot of women-led films to choose from.

For Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a playlist of 21 of those films for your viewing pleasure. As you’ll see, no two of these shorts are alike. They deal with topics like autism, racism, sexism, losing a loved one and trying to fit in and find yourself at any age. And the women who’ve made them have gone on to do great things: Jules Nurrish, director of Kiss Me, was recently named a Film Independent Directing Lab Fellow. And you’ve probably heard of Ana Lily Amirpour, of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night fame; she also wrote I Feel Stupid, which was featured in our first season.

Our show gives us the opportunity to raise the profile of women-produced student work, and as Hollywood’s gender gap hopefully starts to shrink in the coming years, we expect to see our directors land bigger and bigger projects.

Check out all of the films in the playlist here: #ILookLikeAFilmDirector: 21 Shorts for Women’s History Month.

Film School Shorts is a national half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country. From quirky comedies to slice-of-life dramas to hard-hitting thrillers, emerging filmmakers offer new perspectives from a new generation.