AWARD-WINNING QUEER FILMMAKER GEARS UP FOR GONE
Miranda Sajdak Begins Pre-Production on 2nd Short Film
Los Angeles, CA – August 31, 2011 – Following the death of a close friend in college, filmmaker Miranda Sajdak knew what she had to do. “I was determined that my films and my art act as a tribute to [my friend]’s passing.”
Sajdak has been working in film during and since graduating from Columbia University with a degree in Film Studies, and is no stranger to the LGBT film community. Her last film, Snapshot, a collaboration with PowerUP award-winner and creator of ABC Family’s Huge, Savannah Dooley, premiered at Outfest in 2010, and inspired her to push herself further for her next project.
Said inspiration had her planning this next short in tribute to her friend’s death. Despite having been an active member of the LGBT community, the young woman, whose name has not been released for posterity, had never felt comfortable coming out to her family. Sajdak remembers that, though her friend worked with Gloria Steinem and many others in the feminist/LGBT community, she was never fully comfortable with her own identity. When Sajdak reached out to another friend, award-winning filmmaker C.C. Webster, to write the film, she was thrilled by C.C.’s response to the subject matter. “I’d always been moved by C.C.’s writing, and am ecstatic to have her on board for this short.”
Gone is about a struggle for identity, one that tracks both a straight woman and a queer man through a difficult time as each learns to confront their grief following the passing of a mutual friend. We meet Pen, a young woman on the way to a meeting that has her nervous. She receives a phone call from her mom, who reassures her that everything will be fine. She heads over to a lemonade stand, where she encounters Marcus, a young graphic designer who works in the area. They engage in some small talk before revealing their shared history: both Marcus and Pen at one time dated Jimmy, a young man who has recently died in a car accident. Pen still hasn’t dealt with her personal issues over Jimmy coming out as gay, nor has she recovered fully from his recent passing. Marcus, too, struggles with how to deal with Jimmy’s death, understanding that Pen still hasn’t fully recovered from losing her past love. Marcus gives Pen a keepsake left behind by Jimmy, which, in some small sense, brings her closure.
“Ideas of struggling with identity, grief, and coming to terms with who we are in the world are important issues on a human level, not just an LGBT level” says Sajdak, “and are all things I wanted to address with this project.”
Contact:
Jared Bauer
bauerpower87@gmail.com
281-795-6952