Miranda's Marionettes
Miranda struggles to find her place as a puppeteer until she meets a unique mentor who will push her to strive in her creative world.
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Hortense LingjaerdeDirector
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Hortense LingjaerdeWriter
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Alex RiversProducer
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Lilli PasseroKey Cast"Miranda"Beautiful Loser, Strange Nature, Go On
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Linda KernsKey Cast"Blanche"Titanic, Rat Race, Les Misérables
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Allan WassermanKey Cast"Ivan"
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Natasha Tina LiuKey Cast"Estelle"
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Andy ArenaKey Cast"Oliver"
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Runtime:21 minutes 18 seconds
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Completion Date:December 18, 2019
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Production Budget:60,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital, Arri Classic
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Aspect Ratio:2:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes
Hortense Lingjaerde grew up in Geneva, Switzerland and began pursuing her career in film at the age of 12. She directed her first film at age 17 and since then has directed a number of shorts films and written both short and feature screenplays. She aspires to work as a director, writer, and producer in family entertainment and musicals. Hortense graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2016 with a BA in Liberal Arts, before enrolling at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts where she completed an MFA in Film & Television Production. Hortense is interested in narratives about media for social change, women, artists, and coming of age stories.
She is an explorer at heart who is passionate about people and their stories which lead her to volunteer with NGOs around the world. Hortense believes that every dreamer has the tools to change the status quo. The open-mindedness and intuition of artists have become priceless commodities in a world that desperately needs new leaders of a different kind.
Miranda’s Marionettes came to be when I first started fathoming the idea of directing a musical for my thesis film. I asked myself who in my life I wanted to celebrate to mark the end of my studies and herein transition into the professional world. I immediately thought of the immense gratitude I feel for the mentors who I have met along the way, who have taken me under their wings, helped nurture my voice as an artist and a woman and have never ceased to believe in me.
I have always been someone who seeks out to connect with people and artists alike and was fortunate to be supported and guided by my incredible mentors who have been able to show me where my strength laid and inspired me by their own creative touch and achievements.
I was nurtured by generations of artists which influenced me to seek a creative life. My love of puppetry comes from my great grandmother who was a puppeteer and lived to be a hundred years old, and from my mother who used to work as a set designer and painter for the Geneva Marionette Theatre. I grew up going to marionettes shows inasmuch as going to see films.
With Miranda’s Marionettes, I seek to explore the struggle of female artists to gain recognition and the solace that mentorship and sisterhood carry in this endeavor. Miranda’s character embodies a contained youth facing a rigid system that undermines young individuals who seek out change. The mentor in the story, Blanche, is there to remind her that her voice matters and that she ought to reach her dream goals with training and perseverance. As a feminist filmmaker, I wanted to write a narrative film that put romance to the side and solely focused on a woman’s achievements as an artist and a person in a world wherein women are underprivileged.
With this film, I intend to convey the importance and the degree of influence that mentors have on the next generation in finding purpose and direction in their lives. It has always been and will remain vital for the youth of today and of the future to have inspiring role models in their lives to open their heart to their creative potential.