Experiencing Interruptions?
Password

Lunchbox Loser

Aspiring stand-up sensation Natasha Marakova would rather practice her comedy routine alone in the bathroom than try to deal with school politics. When the hall monitor busts her sanctuary hideout, Natasha is forced to eat in the lunchroom for the first time. After being humiliated by the most popular girls in school for the contents of her lunchbag, Natasha vows revenge. Winning over the tough lunchroom audience isn't easy, especially with a heckler in the crowd. Lunchbox Loser is a dark comedy, about owning who you are and eating it with pride.

  • Virginia Abramovich
    Director
    Little Questions, Momentum, Karate Wipe, Grace, Lindy And The Caterpillar
  • Chandler Levack
    Writer
  • Lauren Corber
    Producer
  • Ani Baravian
    Producer
  • Sarah Davis
    Key Cast
  • Ella Bellantine
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, children, family
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2013
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Shooting Format:
    Red Epic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Manhattan Film Festival
    Manhattan, New York
    July 22, 2014
    World Premier
    Best Children's Film
  • Worlfest Houston International Film Festival
    Houston, Texas, USA
    Short Comedy Silver Remi
  • San Diego Film Festival
    San Diego, California, USA
    September 26, 2014
    West Coast Premier
  • Edmonton Film Festival
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    October 3, 2014
    Canadian Premier
  • Orlando Film Festival
    Orlando, California
    October 22, 2014
  • Lahore International Children's Film Festival
    Lahore
    November 14, 2014
    Pakistan
  • Beloit International Film Festival
    Beloit, Wisconsin
    February 21, 2015
  • POWFest
    Portland, Oregon
    March 12, 2015
    Portland Premiere
  • The Victoria, TX Indie Film Festival
    Victoria, Texas
  • Female Eye Film Festival
    Toronto, Ontario
    June 17, 2015
    Best Short Film
  • Christy Pits Film Festival
    Toronto, Ontario
    August 2, 2015
  • Sao Tome
    Central Africa
  • Canadian Film Festival
    Toronto, Ontario
    March 28, 2015
    Toronto
    Best Short Film Actor
Director Biography - Virginia Abramovich

Virginia Abramovich, an award winning director, producer and writer, with over a decade of professional film experience both on set and in production. A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Directors’ Lab, Virginia has directed and produced six short films, television episodes for Disney Junior's new show "Playdate", as well as some commercial and educational works. Her films have been seen in major festivals worldwide and have been nationally broadcast on CBC and Bravo. Virginia’s most recent feature script, “Eat Or Be Eaten” was selected as a semi-finalist in the Praxis script writing competition. Currently, she is working on the next draft of “Eat or Be Eaten;” developing other projects.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

LUNCHBOX LOSER was inspired by my own personal experience of alienation in elementary school. Teaming up with writer Chandler Levack, who had also been taunted in school, we set out to avenge all losers.

With this film, I intended to take the audience on an emotional ride with the main character, and land in an unexpected place. I wanted to toy with preconceived notions of childhood, and play with the audience’s expectations of a child’s world, which on the outside appears sweet and fluffy like cotton candy, but in reality can sometimes be absolute turmoil.

This film creates its own version of a “kid’s” world, with a nostalgic quality of familiarity, establishing a vague bittersweet longing for what could have been. The Portuguese call it saudade: a homesick feeling for something idealized one can never quite retrieve.

I made this film to appeal to adults through memory, while doing justice to the intense feelings of childhood. The world of childhood is visceral, and highly amplified, both emotionally and visually, with attention paid to detail in only the way a child can. With this film I wish to take audiences into their memories of childhood and hope to offer some closure.

Virginia Abramovich, April 2013