Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. Donate today and help bring Bug to life.
 

Logline

A woman attending her long-awaited green card interview is shocked to learn there’s an unsettling stipulation: she has to eat a bug.

Synopsis

Bug is a surreal comedy about the frustrations of constantly having to prove oneself worthy in a system where the goalposts keep moving. It starts with our protagonist Kasha Swami having finally secured a green card interview after 10 years of waiting, under a new “fast-track” program. And not a moment too soon, as she’s just lost the job that was sponsoring her visa. But upon completing the interview, she finds out there’s one additional stipulation she didn’t know about: in order to prove her emotional commitment to migrating—and so the officers can choose from “an abundance of qualified candidates” she’s asked to eat a dead bug.

Faced with an absolutely nuts choice—consume the specimen or abandon her shot at permanent residency—Kasha moves through doubt, disbelief and desperation while contending with three apologetic, but unflappable immigration officers who insist they’re on her side. As the interview descends into chaos, she has to decide what her limits are, if indeed they exist.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Pratima Mani – Writer/Director
Pratima Mani is a 3-time Emmy nominated comedic writer and performer based in New York City, currently writing for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She’s also written for the likes of Reductress and Upright Citizens Brigade Theater’s Maude Night. She’s an alum of Spotify’s “Sound Up” US podcast bootcamp. Her last short Stitched screened at Hollyshorts, Julien Dubuque, Riverrun, CAAM Fest, New Filmakers LA and won Best Short at IFFSA.

Matthew Romanski – Producer
Matthew Romanski is a New York-based filmmaker on a mission to amplify diverse voices and empower unique, empathy-driven narratives. Recent works include “The Scout” (2025) which is set to premiere at Tribeca. NWA (2024) garnered acclaim at Urbanworld and the Caribbean Film Series at BAM, earning the Best Narrative award at the DBFF. The Sorrows (2024) received official selection at the Efebo d’Oro Film Festival.

Chris Violette – Director of Photography
Chris is a Brooklyn-based DP and shoots a mix of narrative and documentary work. He most recently shot “The Big Game”, a dark comedy feature executive produced by Jim Cummings. Previously he shot “Frogtown”, an experimental narrative feature film highlighting the weird and wonderful residents of a small town in Florida. He’s also worked with director Antonio Méndez Esparza (2018 John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award) on three documentaries highlighting Florida’s Early Childhood Court System.

Betsy Fippinger – Casting
Betsy Fippinger has trained under some of the best casting directors in New York, including Meredith Tucker, Ellen Lewis, Ellen Chenoweth, and Shayna Markowitz. As a Casting Associate and Assistant, she worked on projects directed by Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Bo Burnham, Greg Mottola, and Lynn Shelton. She won an Artios Award for her work as the Casting Associate on the pilot episode of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. As a Casting Director, Betsy cast Sarah Friedland’s upcoming “Familiar Touch” (winner of three awards at Venice ’24, including Best Debut Film), co- cast Nicholas Colia’s “Griffin in Summer” (winner of three awards at Tribeca ‘24, including Best Narrative Feature), and cast the lead youth roles for “Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret,” for which she won her second Artios Award. Before entering casting, Betsy worked at HBO and the William Morris Agency and graduated with a BFA in Film from Wesleyan University in 2003.

Make a donation to Bug.

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.