Oleander
A seventeen year old sex-positive YouTuber starts a social media war against her Christian abstinence program.
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Kate HackettDirectorCheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
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Kate HackettWriterCheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
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Kate HackettProducerCheer, Last Chance U (Editor)
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Emily RobinsonKey Cast"Oleander"Eighth Grade, Transparent
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Peri GilpinKey Cast"Alissa"Frasier, Broad City
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Jennifer LafleurKey Cast"Kim"Big Little Lies, Room 104
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:13 minutes 32 seconds
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Completion Date:May 1, 2019
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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 4K HD
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Athena Film FestivalNew York, New York
United States
March 1, 2021
New York Premiere
Official Selection -
Athens International Film and Video FestivalAthens, Ohio
United States
October 16, 2020
Midwest Premiere
Official Selection -
HollyShorts Film FestivalLos Angeles, California
United States
August 16, 2019
World Premiere
Official Selection -
LA Femme International Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
United States
October 15, 2020
Official Selection -
The Method Fest Independent Film FestivalBeverly Hills, California
United States
August 14, 2020
Best Director, Short Film -
Montreal Independent Film FestivalMontreal
Canada
Canadian Premiere
Official Selection -
San Jose International Short Film FestivalSan Jose, CA
United States
October 23, 2020
Northern California Premiere
Official Selection -
Taos Shortz Film FestivalTaos, NM
United States
March 19, 2021
Official Selection -
Atlanta Women's Film FestivalAtlanta, Georgia
United States
October 3, 2021
Best Director
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.
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.