After All (2023)

A broody, yet clever teen is on the rocks with her long-distance girlfriend when she discovers she can touch a photograph and travel back to the moment it was taken.

The sci-fi element of the film (which we dubbed “photo-traveling”) was an old idea I had back in high school. I was missing my friends during quarantine, and found myself staring at a picture of them one day, this tugging feeling in my gut that made me want to go back to that moment and hug them again. I thought of my loved ones a lot while writing the script for After All. As far as the actual plot goes, I’m going to be a little selfish here and admit that I just wanted to make a feel-good short film about queer teenage girls. I wanted to keep it simple and practical for a group of underfunded college kids to make, yet still go deep enough to pack an emotional punch.

What are the themes and central messages you wanted to convey with your submission?:

As somewhat of a perpetual wallflower, I’ve watched a lot of relationships come and go in my life. One thing I’ve always wondered about is what it would take to foster a love that lasts. A lot of queer kids grow up without the kind of unconditional love that I think is so necessary in today’s fast-moving, highly-individualistic world. With this film, I wanted to tell a story whose main conflict did not revolve around homophobia, but rather the complex inner lives of its main characters, and their internal fight to remember why they want to be together in the first place.

Please list ANY possible CONTENT / TRIGGER Warnings:

mentions of bullying/homophobia

Credits:

Amanda Villalpando

Director

Amanda Villalpando

Writer

Min Thu Ta

Producer

Chaeyoon

Key Cast

"Jess"

Mehaa Mekala

Key Cast

"Marcy"

Erin Lee

Directors of Photography

Min Thu Ta

Directors of Photography

Ria Potharlanka

Production Design

Hayley Kim

Production Design

Sabrina Dunn

First Assistant Director

Abbie Peck

Costume Designer

Anastasia Babusenko

Script Supervisor

Grace Cauthron

Sound

J-Han

Locations Manager

Hayley Kim

Assistant Locations Manager

Mae Richardson

Assistant Camera

Alec Lam

Key Grip

Anastasia Babusenko

Grip

Hayley Kim

Grip

Alec Lam

Gaffers

Anastasia Babusenko

Gaffers

Mae Richardson

Gaffers

Gerry Ramos

Editors

Min Thu Ta

Editors

Grace Cauthron

Assistant Editor

J-Han

Set Photographer

J-Han

Production Assistants

Gerry Ramos

Production Assistants

Jamie Kim

Graphic Designer

Min Thu Ta

Colorist

Gerry Ramos

Sound Mixer

Max Garcia

Music

Specs:

Project Type:

Student, Short

Genres:

Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Runtime:

26 minutes 52 seconds

Completion Date:

November 30, 2023

Production Budget:

400 USD

Country of Origin:

United States

Country of Filming:

United States

Language:

English

Shooting Format:

Digital

Aspect Ratio:

16:9

Film Color:

Color

First-time Filmmaker:

No

Student Project:

Yes - UC Berkeley

After All has already premiered at 2 previous film festivals (CAPFest in 2023 and Frameline in 2024)

CAPFest

Berkeley

United States

December 2, 2023

CAPFest Premiere

Best Berkeley Picture, Best Cinematography