After unexpected encounters both at school and at home, a twelve-year-old tomboy reflects on the space that lives between binaries.

Cuttlefish is a coming-of-age short film that follows a twelve-year-old tomboy after unexpected encounters at school and at home. Ronnie’s confrontations push her to reflect on the space that exists between internal and outward-facing presentations of identity. How can facets our characters simultaneously act as a source of vulnerability and empowerment; pride and isolation; empathy and hate? Ronnie wrestles with the limitations of a world of binaries.

FROM THE DIRECTOR

“Cuttlefish, one of the most intelligent invertebrates, can instantaneously change their external coloration and pattern in order to hide themselves from predators and prey, and to communicate with one another. As such, the metaphor of changing face to survive–or thrive–in a larger environment pervades. Primary colors are strategically utilized—both through the cinematography and production design—to symbolize character opposition and evolution.

Structurally speaking, Ronnie’s interactions with recurring spaces and actions evolve in parallel to the larger emotional and intellectual journey of her character. The visual imagery, color palette, and structural cadence of the film enhance the story’s larger conversation around the limitations of a world of binaries.”

-Alexandra Geller