Private Project

GREEK PHILOSOPHIA and CHICKENS

Part drama, part comedy with a hint of romance, Greek Philosophia and Chickens follows a sixty-something best-selling romance author who, feeling invisible as woman, hires an assassin to take her out. We meet Tessa on a day she's decided that she's had enough. She's ending it all, only she can't do it herself so she's hired an assassin to do it for her. Satisfied with the order of her home affairs, she sets out to meet him, a man she chooses to name "Keith". As the day progresses, Tessa encounters a chef/restaurant owner, Niko, and his vivacious waitress mother, Katina, from whom she learns a Greek philosophy/saying that really gets her thinking maybe...? I mean, she is Katina, a Greek woman in her late seventies who's full of life and is dating a man ten years younger than her, so she may be right when she says, "the old chicken's got the juice."

  • Aimiende Negbenebor Sela
    Director
    A Day in the Life of Who, Believer, Exploring Chinatown, SAD, Harriet Arrives, Longing, Tracy 101, Hermit, Utopia, Blind Date, Believer
  • Despina Moraitu Politzi
    Writer
  • Heather Hillstrom
    Producer
    As the Cookie Crumbles, The King in the Ring, (GOD) mother
  • Germaine Gaudet
    Key Cast
    "Tessa"
    The Valley, No, The Man Who Can’t Stop Killing, How to Successfully Fail in Hollywood, Sandglass, Syncope
  • Brian D Cohen
    Key Cast
    "Keith"
    Nash Bridges, The Rookie
  • Lukas Hassel
    Key Cast
    "Niko"
    Blacklist, The Black Room, Slapface, Limitless, Hermit
  • Lainie Kazan
    Key Cast
    "Katina"
    My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Gigli, Tango Shalom
  • Germaine Gaudet
    Executive Producer
  • Germaine Gaudet
    Concept by
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Dramady
  • Runtime:
    24 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 35 mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Aimiende Negbenebor Sela

Aimiende Negbenebor Sela is a Writer-Director of Nigerian descent, adopted by a Jewish-Israeli family from the Bronx, and a Stevens Institute of Technology Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in Arts and Humanities.

Her award-winning short films have screened at numerous festivals across the world, and her feature screenplays have placed in several competitions including Screencraft Film Fund, Hollyshorts, Austin Film Festival, Cinestory Foundation Fellowship, and in the top 15% at Academy Nicholl Fellowships. Her feature, Utopia, made it to the second round at the Sundance Writer’s Lab.

Growing up as that kid glued to The Sound of Music, back in Nigeria, to the adult now dazzled by the complexity of the characters in 12 Angry Men, films have always helped Aimiende make sense of the world. As a result, her work interrogates the human condition, but with empathy -- as she truly believes we all live the same lives, we’re just colored differently.

Her production company, Sela Films LLC, was born out of this belief in order to help push the boundaries of innovation, inclusion, diversity and creativity with a focus on humanism.

Aimiende currently resides in Long Beach with her husband.

To learn more about her work, visit her website at www.selafilms.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The story Greek Philosophia and Chickens began as a meditation on isolation and loneliness, through the lens of an accomplished and sensual woman in her sixties.

The idea of feeling invisible is one I believe many marginalized people grapple with in their daily lives. It's certainly one I can relate to as a nappy-haired dark-skinned African (America) woman. It's what drew me to the story. That, and the way it so light-handedly and quirkily deals with the subject, while offering hope even through humor. The one thing I always aim to bring to my work is hope.

My goal with Greek Philosophia and Chickens is to share the sense of disconnect, loneliness, and expectation as well as the moments of hope, comedy and beauty that this story in its specificity and intimacy seeks to share with its audience.