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Stunning short film “Chubby” was written and directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli. The movie is kind of a personal project as both of the producers and directors share their own experiences as survivors of sexual abuse. It tells the story of the ten-year-old girl Jude who is played by the young Maya Harman. She never acted before, but despite that she is portraying her character in such a relatable and convincing way. “Chubby” addresses Jude’s remaining trauma of sexual abuse. One of producers’ main intention was to encourage and motivate victims to speak about their experience without being ashamed, feeling responsible for what happened or having a bad conscience.
Cinematographer Adam Crosby was also part of the crew. He was nominated for a Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award for his work. Crosby surprises the audience constantly during the film, by switching from funny moments to a rather frightening and uncomfortable ones. He uses simple yet effective angles and camera tricks, which enable the audience to see things from the actors’ perspectives.
“A rare and specific way to portray such a profound and grave topic”
The cast and crew portray such a complex topic in a playful but also specific way. It might happen that you won’t understand immediately what’s going on during the first minutes, but that’s totally normal. First, it can feel a bit confusing, but the longer you watch the short, the more aware you’ll become how profound and grave the topic is.
Madeleine’s and Dusty’s short won several awards like the Silver Dragon Award (“Best Director of Short Fiction “) at Krakow Film Festival or the Jury Prize (“Best Breakout Performance”) and could inspire all women to talk more about this topic in public, but also motivate other filmmakers to address this complex topic in a specific way.
Gain an insight into the thoughts and emotional world of both producers. Here’s the trailer:
