Script File
When You Feel...Something.
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Project Type:Short Script
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Number of Pages:9
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Country of Origin:United States
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First-time Screenwriter:No
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Student Project:No
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Digital Cinema Package:Unavailable
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DTLA Screenwriting CompetitionLos Angeles
October 21, 2020
FINALIST, Best Short Screenplay
Angela's first short film as writer/director, The Encounter, screened at over 30 international film festivals, winning the Grand Jury Award at the White Sands International Film Festival, Honorable Mention at Toronto CommFFest Global Community Film Festival and nominations for Best Short Film at SoCal Film Festival, SOHO International Film Festival and Long Island International Film Expo in New York.
Her second short, which she also wrote and directed, The Untimely Concurrence, won Best LGBTQ Film at Action on Film International Film Festival, San Francisco Black Film Festival, San Diego Black Film Festival, and won the Silver Screen Award for Best Short Film at the Nevada International Film Festival.
Most recently her feature film Elevate received two awards of merit from the Accolade Global Film Competition, Angela won the Female Pioneer Award at the 10th Annual Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, won the Best Director Award at LBGTQ Rainbow Umbrella Festival in January 2019 and Best Inspirational Feature Film in March 2019 at the Golden State International Film Festival.
In 2015 she also produced a short film entitled Shoshannah’s Skateboard, which won Best Family Film at Columbia Gorge International Film Festival, and won the Hearts Minds and Souls Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
In addition, her screenplay Drunk Book was awarded Best Comedy Short for the written word competition at Action on Film Festival where she also received the ‘Excellence in Writing” Award, and was nominated at the Austin Revolution Film Festival.
Angela is currently in post production on The Good Balloon by writer/producer Lita Lopez, developing her next short film and her second feature film.
I believe stories that shine a light on issues such as police brutality, racism, homophobia, mental illness, homelessness, religion discrimination, addiction, equal rights for women, incarceration, child abuse, and elderly abuse; can help educate, inspire change and elevate our consciousness.
My name is Anjela Danielovna Matemotja, born in the former U.S.S.R. and living in Los Angeles. Because I was born into a bi-cultural and bi-racial family, my perspective and experiences in this world have never been quite “ordinary.”
My black South African Father was a part of the political arm of the ANC, which helped him escape from the political oppression to study in the former U.S.S.R. In Kiev is where my Father met and married my Mother, a young Russian woman whose family settled there after the war. Kiev is also my birthplace.
As a consequence of my Father having to live in exile, by the time I was eight years old I’d lived in Russia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Arriving in America speaking only Swahili and Russian, I immediately realized that I did not fit in with other kids.
By the time I was a teenager, feeling like a misfit and growing up in the South Bay during the Reagan era, I naturally fell into the punk rock scene. Punk rock and Ska music expressed everything that I was and everything that I felt.
The legitimized anger echoed in bands like Crass, MDC, Uniform Choice, The Specials, SSD Control and Operation Ivy was something that I related to on a visceral level and was not hearing about in popular culture in a way that I could understand. These early experiences coupled with my empathic nature helped me form my outlook on culture and race.
My mission as a filmmaker is to explore the social, sub cultural and international aspects of our nation, one story at a time. I’ve been sharing this mission since 2011, through my work with Matemotja Productions. Our world is in crisis and I believe that art can heal. We as artists have the power to encourage dialogue for understanding, acceptance and compassion.
