Private Project

Use Your Words

A new friendship between two lonely mothers is plunged into jeopardy when they discover that a painful event from one's past lives on in the other’s present. “Use Your Words” is a story of the healing power of friendship.

  • Michelle Tattenbaum
    Director
  • Sarah Saltwick
    Writer
  • Michelle Tattenbaum
    Producer
  • Sarah Saltwick
    Producer
  • Nathalie Frederick
    Producer
  • Autumn Hurlbert
    Key Cast
    "Leslie"
  • Pearl Rhein
    Key Cast
    "Alma"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 52 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 17, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    32,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • New Jersey International Film Festival
    New Brunswick, NJ
    United States
    June 6, 2024
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • The Women's Film Festival
    Philadelphia, PA
    United States
    August 17, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Lady Filmmakers Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    September 29, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Topaz Film Festival
    Dallas, TX
    United States
    October 19, 2024
    Official Selection
  • New York City Independent Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    June 4, 2025
Director Biography - Michelle Tattenbaum

Michelle is an East Coast based director who works in theater, audio and film, specializing in collaborating with writers on new scripts. She has directed many theatrical world premieres and New York premieres, including the musical NOBODY LOVES YOU at the Old Globe (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle nomination: Best Director) and Off-Broadway at Second Stage. She works internationally, directing URINETOWN (in Danish!), a production that was nominated for the best musical Reumert award, the Danish equivalent of the Tonys. Her short films include “Idea,” which has screened at film festivals worldwide, and “Use Your Words,” currently in post-production. In audio, she directs fiction podcasts that are downloaded millions of times each month by listeners around the world.

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Director Statement

Women, especially mothers, are conditioned to struggle on their own, not allowed to admit they need one another. They’re supposed to be able to do everything. Work full time, parent, make everything run smoothly. And they’re never supposed to ask for help, because that will reveal that they are not strong enough.

But we do need one another. We are not strong enough. We are vulnerable.

Like the characters in “Use Your Words,” we all need to risk opening ourselves up to connections that can help us heal. This film tells a vital story about the power of friendship, about the power of believing one another, about friends working to overcome pain. Because connecting in spite of pain, in spite of trauma, makes these characters, and all of us, stronger.