Private Project

Charlie is Not a Boy

Charlie is Not a Boy is the tale of a hushed soul, bound to a crumbling household in an allegorical America. With a perverted butcher for a father and a mother frozen in a quiet, catatonic spell, Charlie seeks solace in the whimsical world of his eccentric grandmother. As his safe haven unravels, Charlie navigates the hostile worlds of home and the military, caught between his authentic self and the masks he must wear.

  • Pol Kurucz
    Director
  • Pol Kurucz
    Writer
  • Pablo Larcuen
    Writer
  • Gergely Poharnok
    Director of Photography
  • Amanda Cawley
    Composer
  • Brooks Ginnan
    Key Cast
    "Charlie"
  • Máté Mészáros
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Gigi Spelsberg
    Key Cast
    "Mother"
  • Ágnes Bánfalvy
    Key Cast
    "Grandma"
  • Ernest Faisztl
    Executive Producers
  • Gábor Rajna
    Executive Producers
  • Judit Stalter
    Executive Producers
  • Pol Kurucz
    Production Design & Art Direction
  • Wanda Kiss
    Editor
  • Ilona Waters
    Creative-Lead
  • Zsófi Kormos
    Costume Designer
  • Miranda Monore
    Lead Costume Designer
  • Attila Kenyeres
    Key Hair Stylist
  • Richárd Fazekas
    Key Makeup Artists
  • Denise Bazaar
    Key Makeup Artists
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Dark Comedy, Fairytale, Surreal Drama, Surreal Coming-of-Age, LGBTQIA+, Disturbing Fairytale, Alternative, America, USA, Cinema
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 17 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 6, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    France, Hungary, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Hungary
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Slamdance
    Los Angeles
    United States
    February 16, 2026
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Tampere Film Festival
    Tampere
    Finland
    March 4, 2026
    European Premiere
  • Roze Filmdagen
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    March 18, 2026
    Netherlands Premiere
  • Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival
    Budapest
    Hungary
    May 28, 2026
    National Competition
  • Wicked Queer
    Boston, Massachusetts
    United States
    April 3, 2026
    Boston Premiere
  • Seattle International Film Festival
    Seattle, Washington
    United States
    March 7, 2026
    Washington
    ShortsFest
  • The Lovers Film Festival
    Turin, Italy
    Italy
    April 16, 2026
    Italian Premiere
    Future Lovers
  • Odense International Film Festival
    Odense
    Denmark
    Danish Premiere
    International Short Film Competition
  • Provincetown International Film Festival
    Provincetown, Massachusetts
    United States
    Narrative Short Competition
  • RioLGBTQIA+ Film Festival
    Rio de Janeiro
    Brazil
    Brazilian Premiere
    International Short Film Competition
  • Edinburgh International Film Festival
    Edinburgh
    United Kingdom
    UK Premiere
    Short Film Competition
  • FilmOut San Diego
    San Diego, California
    United States
    Narrative Short Competition
Director Biography - Pol Kurucz

LA-based French visual artist and director Pol Kurucz explores human singularity by challenging social, gender, and aesthetic norms. To evade the stiff mold of contemporary trends and discourses and to invoke childlike wonder, he combines highly stylized worlds, reimagined archetypes, and retro-surreal narratives.

After years working in theatre direction, production design, and photography in France, Hungary, and Brazil (where he spent half his adult life), Pol transitioned to film directing in Los Angeles in 2025. Charlie Is Not a Boy is his first live-action project, written, directed, designed, and narrated by him.

His photographs have been featured in more than a hundred publications, including Vogue, ELLE, Glamour, Marie Claire, Paper, Out, Pride, Gay Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Dazed, Flaunt, The Hollywood Reporter, and Beautiful Bizarre.

His fine-art work has been exhibited at major international venues including Art Basel Miami, ArtExpo New York, LA Art Show, Red Dot Miami, Lincoln Center New York, Somerset House London, and Mana Contemporary Miami.

Pol also collaborates on celebrity-driven projects with Janelle Monáe, Pabllo Vittar, Paris Hilton, Saweetie, H.E.R., GloRilla, Nikita Dragun, Anitta, Bella Poarch, Rico Nasty, Todrick, and Gottmik.

He is a frequent speaker and has given talks at FIT New York, CEU Vienna, and Pixel Show South America.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

A young albino banker posing in their eccentric grandmother’s living room after her passing — dressed like her, smoking multiple cigarettes at once like her, living like her. This was the first character I imagined nine years ago, while I was living in Rio.

When I decided to leave photography for cinema last year, I began a series of camera tests with various artists, attempting to translate my still world into motion. One afternoon, Brooks — a dear friend and the lead actor of my short — walked into my apartment wearing an outfit that evoked a stylish, mourning grandmother. I knew my first film would be about this peculiar, resurfacing figure, whom I named Charlie. That very day, the 2024 elections happened…

The next morning, I sat down to sketch the outlines of the story. I had never written a script or made a film before. I wondered how to begin — but Charlie whispered an enduring tale into my ear right away, echoing what was about to unfold in the country and its military. From there, my theater-directing instincts took over as I shaped Charlie’s fragile world, inspired by French fantastical realists like Marcel Aymé, queer comic books, and the dark, whimsical American stories I grew up with. But nothing inspired me more than Brooks’ own journey — from a lost kid in upstate New York to a radiant, non-binary performer in Los Angeles.