Killer Shoes

Thirty minutes after Sara orders "the perfect" pair of post-covid shoes from Europe, they mysteriously appear on her doorstep. Knowing that the expected shipping time was one month, she asks her partner if they had been ordered as a gift. He says they were not, and they go to bed. A dizzying montage accompanied by a radio news alert reveals the complexing arrival of the shoes to be a widespread phenomenon, unveiling an unsettling turn of events.

  • Sara Sparkles
    Director
  • Hoang Trinh Nguyen
    Director
  • Sara Sparkles
    Writer
  • Sara Sparkles
    Producer
  • Sara Sparkles
    Key Cast
    "Sara"
  • James Harris
    Key Cast
    "Gamer"
  • Athen Sanderford
    Key Cast
    "Older Child in Closet"
  • Autumn Sanderford
    Key Cast
    "Younger Child in Closet"
  • Skyler Thomas
    Key Cast
    "Sara's Partner, Radio Host"
  • Bunni
    Key Cast
    "Bunni the Husky"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Horror, Drama, comedy
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 21, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - De Anza College
  • MonsterFlix Awards

    Finalist
  • The Cypress Horror Society

    Semi-Finalist
  • Lonely Wolf #23LWIFF
    Online
    Quarter-Finalist
  • Shockfest Film Festival

    Official Selection
Director Biography - Sara Sparkles, Hoang Trinh Nguyen

Sara Sparkles - Director/Producer/Cinematographer
From humble beginnings as a fisherman’s daughter, Sara’s introduction to the film industry stemmed from an internship with CreaTV, a community media nonprofit organization, in San Jose, California. Her role allowed her to teach underserved members of the community how to tell their own stories through documentary filmmaking. She graduated from community college with an Associates Degree in Political Science, and an Associates Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. Now entering her senior year at UC Berkeley, Sara is a Film & Media major, who also works as an assistant for the Departments of Rhetoric, and Film & Media. Sara is the Public Relations Chairperson on the Executive Board for the Eta Chapter of Delta Kappa Alpha Cinematic Fraternity, and previously served various roles within their Resident Council. Sara wrote, produced, directed, filmed, and edited Tracing Spoil (2022), The Unbinding (2021), Killer Shoes (2021), and has contributed to many other projects with roles such as: key makeup/hair artist, cinematographer, second assistant camera, assistant producer, sound designer, editor, graphic designer, marketing, and beyond. Sara is an enthusiastic and skilled generalist who sets goals and gets things done.

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Director Statement

Covid threw a heavy wrench into, well, everything. Individually, we had to reinvent ourselves, to survive in a state of isolation that was previously unfamiliar to the majority of us. Masks became a regular part of life, another layer separating from human connection. The wishy-washy, the ebb and flow—now it’s safe, now it isn’t.. and now the slow period of recovery as we each prepare to thrive in the unfamiliar territories of this “new normal.” Like face masks, allowing us to confidently venture into the dangers of the human wilderness, shoes allow us to connect with the world and each other.. and we don’t really appreciate their functional importance in our daily lives. Covid presented an invisible threat that lingered invisibly in the spaces outside of *home*..

With Killer Shoes, I wanted to present a campy take on covid, the pandemic, and emerging from our extended period of confine, while also addressing the prospect of the hazards we might walk through, unintentionally bringing them into the safety of our homes. We wear the masks, we wash our hands, but where have our shoes encountered? We all wear them, these quiet partners in our independence..

Killer Shoes is my first student film, my first attempt at visual storytelling. I learned a lot. If I were to make it again, it would be more polished, but the challenges I faced added a level of campy charm that I couldn’t recreate if I wanted to. It’s cheesy, but I love it’s goofy charm and I appreciate how the project has allowed me to grow.