Experiencing Interruptions?

Sydney & Kim

SYDNEY & KIM is a short film about the demise of a close friendship, exploring how sickness and debility transform what we hold most dear. After 25-year old Sydney is released from the hospital following a major facial surgery, her best friend Kim cares for her at a motel during her recovery. As Kim’s flirtation with the motel manager escalates, Sydney’s resentment begins to boil over. Through intimate moments in their motel room, Sydney and Kim navigate the implicit expectations of their friendship. Shot on Super 16mm film.

  • Hazel Katz
    Director
  • Hazel Katz
    Writer
  • Hazel Katz
    Producer
  • Sasha Forests
    Key Cast
    "Kim"
  • Masha Breeze
    Key Cast
    "Sydney"
  • Connor Foster
    Key Cast
    "JR"
  • Nicoletta Vangelisti
    Executive Producer
  • Arlene Mejorado
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    drama, comedy, lgbtq
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    30,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Hazel Katz

Hazel Katz is a Los Angeles-based video artist and filmmaker. Her work canonizes the often unintelligible but abundant small acts of care done by those disregarded by the state, while resisting neoliberal modes of visibility that sell exceptionalism as a solution to systemic scarcity. Hazel’s 2017 short film, Bubby & Them, won top international film at WNDX festival, and her 2019 feature documentary Florida Water is now distributed by Collective Eye Films. Hazel's work has been supported by MOMA PS1, Tate Modern, and festivals internationally. Hazel has completed residencies at UnionDocs, Abrons Art Center, and Acre, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Visual Art at UC San Diego.

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Director Statement

Sydney & Kim is influenced by domestic dramas, coming-of-age films, chick flicks, and cinema verite documentaries. The film embraces the theatricality of a dialogue centered script and imagines the motel room as a stage. The one-location setting becomes a metaphor for the claustrophobia of Sydney and Kim’s relationship. Handheld camerawork emphasizes the internal worlds of the characters, alternating between boredom, sickness, and inebriation. Intimate verite scenes are interspersed with stylized wide shots of the desert landscape around the motel. This montage technique emphasizes how the main characters are “alone, together.” Equally motivated by Mumblecore filmmaking of the 1990s and the New Topographics landscape photography movement of the 1970s, Sydney & Kim theorizes SoCal “shitty heaven” as an allegory for the ubiquity of white feminine influencer culture.

Inspired by the performativity in 90s films like Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso [1998], Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan [1990], and Richard Linklater’s Tape [2001], the narrative arc is driven by dialogic events. As each character’s flaws and strengths are revealed, the audience is left to wonder who’s the hero and who’s the villain. Ultimately, the friendship itself becomes the main character, as its toxic logic motivates Sydney and Kim’s actions. Sydney & Kim analyzes the challenges of queer and trans chosen family, where liberatory mantras of interdependence collapse into revenge fantasies.