Toy

After spotting an unusually small car, two friends decide to play a practical joke. Enlisting help from a passerby they find out the stranger’s true motives.

  • Alessia Mandanici
    Director
    Just Kids
  • Alessia Mandanici
    Writer
    Just Kids
  • Andrew Long
    Producer
  • Giulio Santello
    Key Cast
    "Daniele"
  • John Racioppo
    Key Cast
    "Cameron"
  • Sebastian Pilley
    Key Cast
    "Stranger"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 24 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    2,937 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - New York University
  • Sunlight International Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    October 9, 2021
    Russian Premiere
  • International Short Film Week Regensburg
    Regensburg
    Germany
    May 21, 2021
    German Premiere
  • The Paus Premieres Festival

    United Kingdom
    January 6, 2022
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Italian Comedy Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    April 1, 2023
    US Premiere
    Official Selection, Finalist
  • Golden Smile International Film Festival
    Bergen, Holland
    Netherlands
    Dutch Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Alessia Mandanici

Alessia is a German/Italian writer and director, born in 1988 in Mainz, Germany.

She studied communication design at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, where she made a short, Spieglein, Spieglein (2011; Audience Award exground filmfest 26, 62nd Berlinale Hessen Talent), and a music video, Time to go (2013; 64th Berlinale Hessen Talent).

After sharpening her visual skills as a freelance filmmaker and graphic designer in Berlin, she moved to New York City for NYU’s Grad Film program in 2018.

Alessia is currently a thesis student and a 2022 NYU Production lab fellow in development of her first feature film.

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Director Statement

I remember very well that, after moving to the US for Grad School in 2018, I was in a constant state of confusion about social, cultural, and behavioral codices.

Growing up in Europe within a German-Italian family, I thought I was exposed to a culturally layered surrounding. However, making American friends taught me many new perspectives and has kept an inner conversation going ever since. The things that stick with me most are fundamental differences expressed in the most ordinary things, such as: What is considered an appropriate size for a car?

TOY deals with that experience, and, as the title suggests, does so in a playful way.