Traditions - short film - 10mins - Digital - 2021
Writer
A Cycle Two exercise for the American Film Institute Conservatory
Traditions is a story that explores the true, violent, history of Thanksgiving.
We're introduced to Kari and her father Moku as they replace Missing Persons flyers of Kari's sister on the eve of a dangerous solar eclipse that blurs the boundaries between past, present, and future.
While the father-daughter duo perform a protection ritual, they are interrupted by a white influencer couple who ignore Moku's warnings. The couple's entitlement of the land seals their fate when they travel back in time under the eclipse's influence and they are captured by paranoid 17th Century Puritanical settlers. When Kari searches for the couple she instead encounters the truth behind her missing sister.
Directed by Alex Villareal - Produced by Nagee Brown - Story by Nagee Brown - Screenplay by Liz Vazquez -
Cinematography by Rayana Rasamee - Production Design by Georgina Gutierrez - Edited by Tianze Sun
Starring Brittany Shonka, Raudo Cardona, Lindsey Naves, Sam Keller, Stacey Patino, Joshua M. Bott, Lindsey Schuberth