The Gaze

An actress is repeatedly catcalled on her way home from a shoot until just the right guy comes her way.

  • Christina Raia
    Director
  • Christina Raia
    Writer
  • Christina Raia
    Producer
  • Nicole Solomon
    Producer
  • Matrika Hay
    Key Cast
    "Riki"
  • Latresa Baker
    Key Cast
    "Grace"
  • J.B. Rance
    Key Cast
    "Grace"
  • Jason Zednick
    Key Cast
    "Creep"
  • Alexander Alvarez
    Key Cast
    "Max"
  • Dani Thomas
    Key Cast
    "Cordelia"
  • Maya Jasmin
    Key Cast
    "Cleo"
  • Miranda LeeAnn
    Key Cast
    "Scream Queen"
  • Jeanette Sears
    Cinematographer
  • Matt Gershowtiz
    Editor
  • Sean Mannion
    VFX
  • Alexandra Kalinowski
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Sci-Fi
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 9, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital 2K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Horrible Imaginings Film Festival
    Santa Ana, CA
    August 31, 2019
    World Premiere
  • Fem.Cine.Anarchy
    Portland, ME
    September 19, 2019
  • Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival
    Cary, NC
    October 12, 2019
  • Adirondack Film Festival
    Glens Falls, NY
    October 18, 2019
  • Nightmares Film Festival
    Columbus, Ohio
    October 25, 2019
    Ohio Premiere
  • Ax Wound Film Festival
    Brattleboro, Vermont
    November 16, 2019
    Vermont Premiere
  • Blackbird Film Festival
    Cortland, NY
    May 2, 2020
    NYS Premiere
    Nominated: The Darkness Award
  • Attack of the Slipper Room Movie Mondays!
    New York, NY
    April 6, 2020
    NYC Premiere
Director Biography - Christina Raia

Christina Raia is a New York City based Writer/Director and the Founder of CongestedCat Productions. She tends to focus on character-driven narrative projects that explore social issues through humor and horror. Her work, consisting of over a dozen short films, a web series, and two feature films, has screened at film festivals around the world and gained a large online following through multiple crowdfunding campaigns and coverage on press outlets such as Indiewire and BuzzFeed. Through a desire to support other filmmakers, she works for Seed&Spark as the Head of Education, teaching and empowering creators to build their audience and crowdfund their work. She also runs IndieWorks, a monthly screening and community-building series showcasing short films by other New York filmmakers. At the 2019 Queens World Film Festival, she won the Lois Weber Pioneer Award for her leadership in film.

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Director Statement

The ideas for my short films are often not something I'm actively looking for. Premises tend to just come to me, usually late at night when I can't sleep as kind of paths for processing or channeling frustrations I'm feeling at the time. This one was no different. I just started typing; and what came out was a little creepy, a little campy, and hopefully a lot of fun meta horror exploring and subverting objectification & the male gaze, both in terms of the genre and society in general.

It was summer when I wrote it, so being catcalled was a daily occurrence. And I'd say the #metoo stories coming out left & right were... well, overwhelming is an understatement. I had also been binging my childhood favorite, The Twilight Zone (which was coming off the heels of other childhood favorite rewatch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I suppose that's the mental & emotional mix that resulted in the initial screenplay. I wasn't really sure whether or not I wanted to make the film, as I worried it was a little too bizarre in such a short amount of time for it to make sense outside of my head. But my collaborators loved the script and encouraged me to give it a shot. I'm really proud of what we all made together. I hope it resonates with viewers, as well.