SHORT FILMS

While We've Still Got Feet

While We've Still Got Feet is a short film about a grieving middle-aged man, his rambunctious 9-year-old niece, and a tantalizing local dance contest.


The film started with Arthur Russell, the iconic cellist whose ethereal music has become increasingly popular in recent years. Arthur tragically passed away from AIDs in the early 90s, leaving his partner, Tom, with many unreleased songs and a pile of grief (Tom happened to be one of my teachers in elementary school). Taking inspiration from Tom's life and my mom's experience losing friends during the AIDs epidemic, I conceived of Charles, our protagonist, who mourns the loss of his partner Marty to AIDS. When Charles' energetic, dance-crazed, niece Rosie comes to stay him, we see how a new generation engages with that period of immense loss. For Charles, caregiving becomes a beautiful way not only to nurture Rosie's future, but also to nurture his own past, subverting the coming of age genre. By pitting Charles' crippling grief against Rosie's boisterous naïveté, moments of comedy, conflict, and dance arise between the two wildly different characters. 


The film was awarded the Stephen J. Ross Prize for Best Thesis Film and NNK Award for Best Screenplay from the Wesleyan Film Department. It is currently on a festival run.