New York is No Mother

After Faye graduates from university, she moves in with her mother in Manhattan, but neither the city nor her mom have much time for her.

  • Will J. Wood
    Director
    The Source of it All (2023), Fugue (2022)
  • Will J. Wood
    Writer
  • Will J. Wood
    Producer
  • Jamie Feidner
    Key Cast
    "Faye"
  • Dayna Michelle Kurtz
    Key Cast
    "Mom"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 35 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 11, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Will J. Wood

Will J. Wood is a young, queer British filmmaker and writer whose work attempts to create unique, rich character-led stories. He aims to root the art of the queer future with our deep cultural heritage. His debut short FUGUE was shown at festivals last year, won Honourable Mention and was shortlisted for best LGBT director at London film festivals. His poetry and short stories have been published in magazines in London, Cambridge and Europe.

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Director Statement

In New York earlier this year, meeting artists, actors, musicians and therapists, I found the similarities to the urban existential experience of London, where I currently live. Putting these feelings into words with Jamie Feidner, we wove a monologue of the impressions and anxieties of life in the capital for the young.

The story grew from my association of cities and parenthood, what kind of mother is New York? What relationship “born and bred” mean? Drawing on the voice-overs styles of the New Wave—in particular Truffaut’s Jules et Jim—and of course the iconic opening of Allen’s Manhattan, NEW YORK IS NO MOTHER swells into a hunt for meaning, as Faye (Jamie Feidner) mines deeper into herself and her city, looking for belonging. The film ends with that hunt mirrored in another kind of encounter, with her mother herself (Dayna Michelle Kurtz).