The Star, The Fool & The Magician

The Star, The Fool & The Magician is a short dance film re-staging the Christian story of creation. My goal with this film is to spark conversations about binary gender roles in symbolic narratives and modern day life. We will revisit the Garden of Eden. However, instead of Adam and Eve, it is an innocent genderqueer creature who wanders inside the garden. They are given carte blanche to choose their own gender and destiny. This project is unique because while we are slowly moving towards a non-binary model of gender expression, there still aren’t enough films that reflect this belief. Mainstream Hollywood is still bound to narrow gender roles and genderqueer characters are often haphazardly added as a box to check.

The primary reason is that sexual and gender minorities are currently not in the position to tell their own stories. I believe that the solution to this problem is inclusivity both in front and behind the camera. Everyone of our cast and crew members are female identifying, queer, androgynous or ethnically diverse. Supporting this films means a jumpstart for everyone involved and an opportunity to shift the current codes of gender.

 

DIRECTOR / EDITOR / CO-PRODUCER

WINNIE CHEUNG (winnith.com)

Winnie is a Hong Kong born, Queens raised, Brooklyn based filmmaker. She made her directorial debut in 2014 with "Dear Lucas", a sci-fi short which premiered at Northside Film Festival. Later that year, Winnie directed "Exit Interview", a Lynchian short film which screened at Marfa Film Festival in 2016. That same year, her feature screenplay "Dreem Pussy" was selected into the second round of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

She is a proud Posse Scholar, nationally selected and trained to serve as a catalyst for individual and community development in an ever increasing multicultural society. In 2017, Winnie took on the role of creative and programming director for the Picture Farm Film Festival. The weekend long festival featured a program made up of: Global Environment Issues for the Local Audience, Black Voices in Independent Film, Defying Gender Identity Labels and Untold Stories of Struggle & Change from Around The World. She also volunteers as a photo mentor at East Side Community High School.

 

 

CO-PRODUCER

CAITLIN ENGEL

Caitlin Engel's first foray into production was in 2010 on The Edge with Jake Sasseville, the first independently syndicated late night talk show, which aired on ABC affiliates across the U.S. Engel was responsible for entertainment campaigns with the Starwood Hotel Group, State Farm, Procter & Gamble, and Overstock.com. When Sasseville left The Edge and launched Delusions of Grandeur with Blip.TV, Caitlin executive produced, and helped garner one million eyeballs to tune into the first episode.

Caitlin then moved on to produce the short film, Long Walk to Forever in partnership with the Kurt Vonnegut trust, and raised money for production through a successful IndieGoGo campaign. She has since worked on several music videos, with such names as The Heavy, Charles Perry, Wale, and the MTV VMA nominated music video/short film Crooked Smile, which was directed by Sheldon Candis for Grammy nominated recording artist, J. Cole. Her second short film RSVP, which she production designed and co-produced, won Best Comedy Short, at the Queens International Film Festival.

Caitlin is currently in pre-production on her first feature film COAST which is being produced through Academy Award Nominated Actor Bruce Dern's production company Publicly Private. It's slated for a 2018 release.

 

CHOREOGRAPHER

ELENA VAZINTARIS (elenavazintaris.com)

Elena's choreography has been commissioned for projects spanning fashion editorial, film, music video and the stage. Many of have garnered attention from international film festivals winning awards and nominations at SXSW and featured in Rolling Stone, Tribeca Film, Dazed Digital, Vh1, MTV and Noisey.  Spanning a decade, Elena's choreographic work under EV/DP has been performed at festivals like NYC's Summer Stage, The Current Sessions: Volume III, Issue II, Triskelion's Collabfest 2013, Gibney's Show/Share 2014, Movement Research Open Performance 2014 and The Reverb Dance Gallery Series 2016.

 

DONATE TO THIS PROJECT:

Cinefemme's Federal Tax EIN Number is 52-237-4579.  Our address is 1014 Broadway #477 in Santa Monica, CA.  Donations to this project can be made via the donation button above, through a charitable fund, or by check.  Checks should be made out to Cinefemme and have "Star, Fool, Magician" written in the memo section.  Checks must be mailed to:

Cinefemme

1014 Broadway #477

Santa Monica, CA  90401

 

The Star, The Fool & The Magician

The Star, The Fool & The Magician is a short dance film re-staging the Christian story of creation. My goal with this film is to spark conversations about binary gender roles in symbolic narratives and modern day life. We will revisit the Garden of Eden. However, instead of Adam and Eve, it is an innocent genderqueer creature who wanders inside the garden. They are given carte blanche to choose their own gender and destiny. This project is unique because while we are slowly moving towards a non-binary model of gender expression, there still aren’t enough films that reflect this belief. Mainstream Hollywood is still bound to narrow gender roles and genderqueer characters are often haphazardly added as a box to check.

The primary reason is that sexual and gender minorities are currently not in the position to tell their own stories. I believe that the solution to this problem is inclusivity both in front and behind the camera. Everyone of our cast and crew members are female identifying, queer, androgynous or ethnically diverse. Supporting this films means a jumpstart for everyone involved and an opportunity to shift the current codes of gender.

 

DIRECTOR / EDITOR / CO-PRODUCER

WINNIE CHEUNG (winnith.com)

Winnie is a Hong Kong born, Queens raised, Brooklyn based filmmaker. She made her directorial debut in 2014 with "Dear Lucas", a sci-fi short which premiered at Northside Film Festival. Later that year, Winnie directed "Exit Interview", a Lynchian short film which screened at Marfa Film Festival in 2016. That same year, her feature screenplay "Dreem Pussy" was selected into the second round of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

She is a proud Posse Scholar, nationally selected and trained to serve as a catalyst for individual and community development in an ever increasing multicultural society. In 2017, Winnie took on the role of creative and programming director for the Picture Farm Film Festival. The weekend long festival featured a program made up of: Global Environment Issues for the Local Audience, Black Voices in Independent Film, Defying Gender Identity Labels and Untold Stories of Struggle & Change from Around The World. She also volunteers as a photo mentor at East Side Community High School.

 

 

CO-PRODUCER

CAITLIN ENGEL

Caitlin Engel's first foray into production was in 2010 on The Edge with Jake Sasseville, the first independently syndicated late night talk show, which aired on ABC affiliates across the U.S. Engel was responsible for entertainment campaigns with the Starwood Hotel Group, State Farm, Procter & Gamble, and Overstock.com. When Sasseville left The Edge and launched Delusions of Grandeur with Blip.TV, Caitlin executive produced, and helped garner one million eyeballs to tune into the first episode.

Caitlin then moved on to produce the short film, Long Walk to Forever in partnership with the Kurt Vonnegut trust, and raised money for production through a successful IndieGoGo campaign. She has since worked on several music videos, with such names as The Heavy, Charles Perry, Wale, and the MTV VMA nominated music video/short film Crooked Smile, which was directed by Sheldon Candis for Grammy nominated recording artist, J. Cole. Her second short film RSVP, which she production designed and co-produced, won Best Comedy Short, at the Queens International Film Festival.

Caitlin is currently in pre-production on her first feature film COAST which is being produced through Academy Award Nominated Actor Bruce Dern's production company Publicly Private. It's slated for a 2018 release.

 

CHOREOGRAPHER

ELENA VAZINTARIS (elenavazintaris.com)

Elena's choreography has been commissioned for projects spanning fashion editorial, film, music video and the stage. Many of have garnered attention from international film festivals winning awards and nominations at SXSW and featured in Rolling Stone, Tribeca Film, Dazed Digital, Vh1, MTV and Noisey.  Spanning a decade, Elena's choreographic work under EV/DP has been performed at festivals like NYC's Summer Stage, The Current Sessions: Volume III, Issue II, Triskelion's Collabfest 2013, Gibney's Show/Share 2014, Movement Research Open Performance 2014 and The Reverb Dance Gallery Series 2016.

 

DONATE TO THIS PROJECT:

Cinefemme's Federal Tax EIN Number is 52-237-4579.  Our address is 1014 Broadway #477 in Santa Monica, CA.  Donations to this project can be made via the donation button above, through a charitable fund, or by check.  Checks should be made out to Cinefemme and have "Star, Fool, Magician" written in the memo section.  Checks must be mailed to:

Cinefemme

1014 Broadway #477

Santa Monica, CA  90401