Travelling Distribution

Freak

A film by

Claire Barnett

Synopsis

On the eve of her 26th birthday, Lainey is confronted with a question that tests the boundaries of her relationship: What is your deepest, darkest fantasy?

Highlights

Tags

2024

Comedy

Fiction

Genre

Comedy

Country

USA

Year

2024

Length

13'23"

Themes

Sexuality

LGBTQIA+

Religion

Love

Taboos

Trauma

With
Nancy McArthur, Oliver Demers (they/them)
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Production
Claire Barnett, Natalie Remplakowski
Film School
NYU Tisch School of the Arts, graduate film
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Director
Claire Barnett
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Screenplay
Claire Barnett
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Artistic Direction
Claire Barnett
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Cinematography
Claire Barnett, Oliver Demers, Nancy McArthur
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Editing
Claire Barnett
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Sound
Giorgi Koridze, Nino Benashvili

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Director's statement

I grew up in a religious Southern Baptist community in Little Rock, Arkansas, where I lived until I was 23. I moved to New York with my partner in 2021 a bit naively, thinking that if I could just get out of there, I’d be free. It was only a year or so into my time away that I had a bit of a mental breakdown, realizing that the rain clouds above my head followed me here, ever-present and prone to downpour when I least expected it. I grew up assuming that if the people in my life knew who I really was, that they would be ashamed of me. I even convinced myself that the mixtape of songs I wrote and recorded on GarageBand on my mom’s computer confessing my undying love for my girl best friend when she moved away was completely platonic. I mean hello, I had a boyfriend! I learned that love was conditional, and the condition was never, ever telling the truth, even to myself. And even though I’m safe and sound here, with my feet on the ground and my head held high, sometimes that belief rears its ugly head in the most intimate spaces, with the safest people I know. I think that a lot of people grow up believing that they have to hide in order to belong. How much can we disclose until the people in our lives inevitably reject us? How long can we keep up the elaborate charade we’ve created for ourselves? And is it possible to find each other, despite all of our odd proclivities and shame-ridden fantasies and deep-seated fears, and hold each other, still?

Claire Barnett

Claire Barnett is a writer-director from Little Rock, Arkansas based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA in Film from the University of Central Arkansas in 2021 and is now a thesis student at NYU Tisch, Graduate Film. Claire’s films have been exhibited in festivals across the United States and Europe, including Slamdance Film Festival (2023) and New Orleans Film Festival (2022). Her short film FREAK premiered at the 77th Locarno International Film Festival and was awarded the Special Mention in the International Competition, Pardi Di Domani.

Filmography

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Festivals

Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland | 2024 *Special Mention - Pardi di Domani Concorso Internazionale
Glasgow Short Film Festival, Scotland | 2025 * Audience Award for International Short
ANDARAS - Traveling Film Festival, Italy | 2025 * Best Erotic Art
SYNCRO, the International Short Film Festival, Argentina | 2025 * Special Mention in the Protagonists Competition
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MoMA Doc Fortnight, USA | 2025
KINO Athens International Independent Film Festival, Greece | 2024
Vancouver International Film Festival, Canada | 2024
FICMonterrey, Mexico | 2024
Porny Days, Switzerland | 2024
Raindance, UK | 2025
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Norway | 2025
Festival des films de Femmes de Créteil, France | 2025
Filmfest Dresden, Germany | 2025
Bolton International Film Festival, UK | 2025
Leiden Shorts, Netherlands | 2025
Vienna Short Film Festival, Austria | 2025
Minikino Film Week, Indonesia | 2025
Festival Henri Langlois, France | 2025
Toko Film Fest, Italy | 2025
Fantasia, Canada | 2025
Carrefour international de théâtre de Québec, Canada | 2025
Wick Monet Film Festival, USA | 2025
20minmax short film festival, Germany | 2025
Interfilm Berlin, Germany | 2025
SXSW Sydney, Australia | 2025
Festival de Cinéma en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Canada | 2025

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