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Logline

A disillusioned art teacher confronts her grief with the help of an unexpected connection to a student with a morbid social media account….and a dead parakeet.

Synopsis

NICOLE (30s) gave up her art to teach art in high school. Her twin sister, BRITTANY, asks her to watch her parakeets and Nicole begrudgingly agrees. At school, a student, RYAN (17), rushes through the teachers’ lounge and breaks Nicole out of her daze.

At Nicole’s livework studio, she notices an invitation to an art show, but throws it away. In class, Nicole catches Ryan using his phone and is stunned by a video of a crushed squirrel. Later, she sees more dead animals on his social media account. Nature in its bloody glory. She accidentally likes one of his posts, and Ryan messages her.

Nicole notices one of the parakeets killed the other and avoids telling her sister. At school, Ryan asks about her artwork on her social media account, but she says she doesn’t paint anymore. He challenges her. Later, she sends him a photo of the dead parakeet. Something awakens inside of her. She paints again.

At school, Nicole notices Ryan arguing with his mother. Later, Nicole avoids her sister’s calls about her birds and attends her art show. Though she has expressed herself creatively, she still feels out of place.

Nicole notices Ryan’s absence in class. While leaving school, she sees him outside with a hurt hand. After refusing to seek medical attention, Nicole offers to tend to it at her studio nearby.

Ryan hears squawking. Nicole reveals a mutant-like bird in the cage, next to the dead parakeet. Ryan sets up a live stream on his social media account. He traps it in a jar, believing to stop its pain. As the parakeet runs out of air, Nicole removes the jar, but the bird seems to have died. Suddenly, the parakeet flies to freedom. Ryan posts a video on his account of it: a rebirth.

Meet the Filmmakers

Daniel Barosa — Director/Writer
Daniel studied film in Argentina and lives in Los Angeles after ten years directing documentaries, shorts, and music videos in Brazil, his home country. His work has screened at Sundance, Rotterdam, BFI London, Guadalajara, CPH:DOX, Mar del Plata, and BIFAN.

His latest narrative short, Boi de Conchas, won the Grand Jury Award in Seattle and is available on Canal+ in France. His debut feature, Boni Bonita, won a post-production grant from Vision Sud Est, and after receiving awards in Europe, was released theatrically in Argentina and Brazil. During his career, Daniel participated in several workshops, including Produire au Sud, Eave, Morelia Lab, Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab, and the Film Independent Screenwriting Lab.

Whitney Ellis — Writer/Actor
Whitney is an actor and filmmaker. She is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television and won a fellowship to complete her MFA at USC. Whitney has appeared in several films and plays internationally, a couple of her film credits being an Official Selection of the LA Shorts International Film Festival. As a filmmaker, her work has screened and won awards at various venues including the Hammer Museum and the Newport Beach Film Festival. One of her films that she wrote, directed and starred in won the Audience Award.

Eduardo Ayres Soares — Producer
Eduardo is a Brazilian producer based in Los Angeles, focused on developing and producing queer-driven stories. His work spans a range of bold and diverse projects, including Chuck and Fern, a live-action fantasy short; Romeo and Juliet, an experimental hybrid film in Brazilian Sign Language; and Party Princess, directed by Daniel Barosa. As a 2025 Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, Eduardo recently completed the short film Keepsake. He is currently developing two new short films: Homecoming, part of a short film anthology, and Magic Jacket, directed by Steph O.

Andressa Cordeiro — Cinematographer
Cinematographer Andressa Cordeiro’s narrative features include Rob Margolies’ Bobcat Moretti, SXSW Official Selection Moderately Put Together” and Michael Mooleedhar’s Green Days by the River. She shot AllBlk/AMC’s series Send Help. Cordeiro also lensed several striking shorts, including Carla Dauden’s The Jump for NALIP and Terence Nance’s They Charge for the Sun, a 2020 Humanitas Prize nominee. Cordeiro is a master in capturing light to translate nuance in story and loves the intimacy in connecting with her audience. Her work in narrative has been screened at major film festivals around the globe such as Cannes and Tiff, and has been distributed by AMC+ ALLBLK, Lifetime, Starz, PBS and to theaters worldwide.

She has shot commercials for major brands such as Nissan, Facebook, Disney+, Paramount+ and her work has been praised by AdWeek and published by Deadline. As a director of Photography, Andressa has over 16 years of experience in TV Series, Feature Films, commercials, short movies and documentaries.

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Contact

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