Filmmaker Magazine have just published their 2023 selection of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. The selection features two recent alumnae of the Stanford MFA Documentary Film program:
Faye Tsakas (MFA '23)
Currently in post-production, Tsakas’s solo short Christmas, Every Day trains a similarly long-take gaze on two aspiring pre-teen influencers modeling clothes under their mother’s guidance. There’s an unavoidably unnerving ease with which they present themselves for the camera and muse about how their self-branding is empowering. “I’m interested in examining the form of feminism that seems to suggest that by commodifying ourselves, we instill confidence and reclaim agency in a patriarchal system,” Tsakas says.
Aurora Brachman (MFA '21)
Her feature debut, currently in production under the working title Dear You, “comes full circle” by following Grace James, a Kiribati woman currently living and seeking asylum in the United States after leaving an abusive husband many years ago. To process the domestic trauma and dwindling environmental likelihood of returning to her homeland, Grace attends dance therapy sessions. “In Kiribati, dance is a huge part of their culture and is believed to have magical properties,” says Brachman, who hopes to release the film in early 2025. Brachman also continues to work as a documentary producer, associate producing Peter Nicks’s Stephen Curry: Underrated and co-producing the upcoming Boys State sequel, Girls State.
Congratulations to both!
