This project centers the immigrant experience and will feature strong performances from Latinx actors in all but one role. Cast and crew comprise a mix of LGBTQ folks and allies. And the writer/director is a woman, directing an action sci-fi that features powerful moments from both men and women.

A jaded Border Patrol agent and his fresh-faced partner are bantering about the ethics of immigration when a comet rockets across the sky, and a call from base interrupts their conversation: Ground triggers have been tripped. Time to track down the interlopers.

 

But they’re not the only ones in pursuit: an alien arrived with that comet. Slender, androgynous, and child-like, it turns its wide eyes over the open desert, picking up the heat signatures of a migrant family: a mother, a father, and two young daughters.  

 

As the alien and the agents converge on the family, unknown to each other, a tense hideout turns into an explosive chase. Who will get there first, and how will it end?

 

 

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

We are living in strange times. The Wall looms as a blunt, brutal allegory - fear and hatred made visible. How could I counter, even a little, the rhetoric of dehumanization happening right in my backyard? Science fiction has long been a sly but powerful conduit for political themes, so I started there. The story would start like a thriller, then lift off and leave the ground, becoming a fable. A fairytale.

Without question, wish fulfillment is at work here: an outsider coming to the aid of underdogs. A small, contained interaction, reframing the debate. I wish it were that simple. But within the scope of a seven-minute short, I hope that at least we are reminded to look into the eyes of the Other with compassion.

The “humanity” of the aliens and the Alien are never in question.

 

WHAT'S NEXT

We are really excited by the response so far to our little film, and are revving up to submit to an ambitious but reasonable cross-section of festivals - from top tier Oscar-qualifiers like Sundance (already sent a work in progress cut!) and SXSW (where Amy's previous project KELLY & CAL premiered) to niche festivals celebrating sci-fi and genre films, festivals which showcase female filmmakers, and regional festivals throughout the U.S. We can't wait to get this short out into the world!