Experiencing Interruptions?

Oleander

A seventeen year old sex-positive YouTuber starts a social media war against her Christian abstinence program.

  • Kate Hackett
    Director
    Cheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
  • Kate Hackett
    Writer
    Cheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
  • Kate Hackett
    Producer
    Cheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
  • Emily Robinson
    Key Cast
    "Oleander"
    Eighth Grade, Transparent
  • Peri Gilpin
    Key Cast
    "Alissa"
    Frasier, Broad City
  • Jennifer Lafleur
    Key Cast
    "Kim"
    Big Little Lies, Room 104
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 32 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 4K HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Athena Film Festival
    New York, New York
    United States
    March 1, 2021
    New York Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Athens International Film and Video Festival
    Athens, Ohio
    United States
    October 16, 2020
    Midwest Premiere
    Official Selection
  • HollyShorts Film Festival
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    August 16, 2019
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • LA Femme International Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    October 15, 2020
    Official Selection
  • The Method Fest Independent Film Festival
    Beverly Hills, California
    United States
    August 14, 2020
    Best Director, Short Film
  • Montreal Independent Film Festival
    Montreal
    Canada
    Canadian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • San Jose International Short Film Festival
    San Jose, CA
    United States
    October 23, 2020
    Northern California Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Taos Shortz Film Festival
    Taos, NM
    United States
    March 19, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Atlanta Women's Film Festival
    Atlanta, Georgia
    United States
    October 3, 2021
    Best Director
Director Biography - Kate Hackett

Kate Hackett is an award-winning filmmaker and editor based in Los Angeles. She was the recipient of the 2018 Sundance Institute Sally Menke Editing Fellowship. Her work as an editor includes the Sundance and SXSW documentary premiere HALF THE PICTURE, the Netflix documentary series CHEER, and the Netflix documentary series LAST CHANCE U.

As a director, she has created many art films for live concerts, including the evening length experience PORTALS, which premiered a new work by Philip Glass and featured violinist Tim Fain. She has been a resident fellow at Yaddo and Kaneko Experimental Studios.

Her screenplay PURIFY MY HEART (the feature film continuation of OLEANDER) was an American Zoetrope Finalist, a Nicholl Quarterfinalist, and a participant in the Sundance Institute / Women In Film Financing Intensive.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My inspirations for this short were twofold. First, I wanted to write about my own experiences with abstinence education as a pre-teen, which held an emotionally destructive power over my psyche as I came into my own as a young woman. Second, I’ve become fascinated by the way in which we now fight our most emotionally fraught cultural battles on social media platforms. For a young woman in the internet era, coming of age sexually also involves having to choose a side in this overwhelming online discourse over whether her sexual life should be suppressed or celebrated. My protagonist, Oleander, is a hero because she fights through the noise to speak her authentic truth.

This film was proudly made with 65% women in the cast and crew.