Experiencing Interruptions?

A Disturbance in the High Desert

🎬 Official Selection: LA Shorts, Carmel International, Utah International, Santa Barbara Indie, HOTYS
🏆 Winner: Best Editing in a Short Film (CIFF), Best Musical Score (UIFF), Best Cinematography (HOTYS), Best Actress - Jenna Wood (HOTYS), Best Supporting Actress - Tillie Howard (HOTYS)
⚡ Nominated for Best Short Film, Best Original Score (CIFF), Best Cinematography (CIFF, UIFF, HOTYS), Best Western (UIFF)
Female-directed, queer, reimagined Western.

In the isolated high desert of the 1920s American West, queer lovers Mare and Gemma have carved out a fragile existence on their remote ranch. But after Gemma is assaulted one night by a familiar figure, the boundaries between right and wrong begin to blur. Set against a striking but unforgiving landscape, A Disturbance in the High Desert examines the cost of survival, the ambiguity of justice, and the limits of love when betrayal hits close to home.

  • Brynn Mitchell
    Director
    The Witch Pricker & The Hare, Behind Glass, Hysterical, Flower Girls
  • Tillie Howard
    Writer & Executive Producer
  • Jenna Wood
    Key Cast
    "Gemma"
  • Tillie Howard
    Key Cast
    "Mare"
    FCBK, My Little Hobby
  • Jasmin Haugstuen Please
    Producers & 1st ADs
  • Hector Martinez
    Producers & 1st ADs
    Binge, What If We Could Stay, Unalived
  • Chris Tuck
    Executive Producer
  • Lauren Stava
    Editors
    Vanderpump Villa, Real Housewives of Potomac, My Little Hobby
  • Michael Costello
    Editors
    Smoke, Black Bird, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Mothers Day, My Little Hobby
  • Zach Morrison
    Cinematographer
    Central and Remote, The Witch Pricker and the Hare, Vipers, In Tow
  • Mackenzie McMahon
    Production Designer
    Adult Best Friends, The Son Who Can't Play Trumpet, Vipers, Party People, What if We Could Stay, On Air
  • Michael Paraskevas
    Music
    Agatha All Along, Frozen 2, This World Won't Break, Wanda Vision, Pride
  • Andrew Asemokai
    Music
    Agatha All Along, Ms. Anita, The Void
  • Joseph "JP" PadPad
    Costume Designer
    Binge, What if We Could Stay, VIDA
  • Neve Andrews
    Makeup Designer
    What if We Could Stay
  • Matthew Rosenberg
    Unit Production Manager
  • Himerria Wortham
    Second Assistant Director
  • Camila Pons Del Toro
    Art Direction & Set Dressers
  • Juliette Perrault
    Art Direction & Set Dressers
  • Jansen Cole
    Art Direction & Set Dressers
  • Kyle Summers
    Camera Department
  • Melina Psarros
    Camera Department
  • Giova Argueta
    Script Supervisor
  • Patrick B. Kennedy
    Production Sound Mixer
  • Cash Dyer-Mcgowan
    Boom Operator
  • Ethan Sandman
    Gaffer
  • Michah Harrison
    Key Grip
  • Stephanie Blenderman
    Swing
  • Jacob Cabacungan
    Costume Supervisor
  • Jaydon Leaf
    Production Coordinator
  • Mario Carranza
    Still Photographers
  • Solomon Zivot
    Still Photographers
  • Eric Birch
    On Set Production Assistants
  • Eric Wiig
    On Set Production Assistants
  • Jacob Ortiz
    Supervising Sound Editor
  • Jean-Paul Barjon
    Musicians
  • Ethan Elseth
    Musicians
  • Walter Volpatto
    Colorist
    Megalopolis, Dunkirk, Green Book, Star Wars; Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
  • Maddie Crews
    Drivers
  • Katarina Not
    Drivers
  • Mac Shoemaker
    Drivers
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Western, Drama, LGBTQ
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 14, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    53,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • LA Shorts International Film Festival
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    July 27, 2025
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Carmel International Film Festival
    Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
    United States
    October 4, 2025
    Official Selection | Winner: Best Editing in a Short Film | Nominee: Best Short Film, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography
  • Santa Barbara Indie Film Festival
    Santa Barbara
    United States
    September 20, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Lady Filmmakers Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    September 26, 2025
    Official Selection
  • Utah International Film Festival
    Taylorsville, Utah
    United States
    January 4, 2026
    Utah Premiere
    Official Selection | Winner: Best Musical Score | Nominee: Best Western, Best Cinematography
  • Hang On To Your Shorts Film Festival
    Red Bank, NJ
    United States
    May 1, 2026
    East Coast Premiere
    Official Selection | Winner: Best Cinematography, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress
Director Biography - Brynn Mitchell

Brynn Mitchell is a Director and Production Designer with deep roots in theater and film. She is passionate about stories that explore big questions in big worlds. With an undergrad in Theater Arts and her MFA from the American Film Institute, Brynn has years of experience working in theater, film, and the editorial world. Brynn is an award winning writer, filmmaker, and designer, and has worked on productions across genres and tones. Her previous films include Behind Glass, a sci-fi thriller set in space, Hysterical, a period comedy, and Flower Girls, a modern dramedy about sisterhood and grief. Always looking for the next big challenge, Brynn is thrilled to be working on A Disturbance in the High Desert with an extraordinary team, and can’t wait to share this unique story with a curious audience.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

A Disturbance in the High Desert captures a moment in life that, unfortunately, is familiar to so
many of us - sexual assault perpetrated not by a stranger, but by someone we know. However, as a team, we set out to focus on the messy, wrenching aftermath of these incidents and ask the question, “what happens when someone you trust hurts the person you love?”

Our film depicts two queer women who are forced to question their loyalties and face an unbelievable truth, and from the beginning of this project, I was drawn to that emotional nuance. Exploring these ideas with the backdrop of 1920s rural Oregon was a painful reminder that although we are grappling with these questions in the modern day, they are not modern ideas. Culturally, when faced with sexual assault scandals, we ask ourselves who to believe, how to react, and how the men we put on a pedestal could have fallen so far. This piece gave me room to explore the feeling of asking those questions, and the consequences of asking them too late. I am deeply moved to share this story with an audience and hopefully get a small step closer to some of the answers.