Private Project

ARE YOU DEPRESSED, OR JUST A CAT? (2026)

Reeling from a breakup, Gunter meets an eccentric woman who draws him to a support group where adults take on feline personas.

  • Tim Sarmiento
    Director
  • Tim Sarmiento
    Writer
  • Lita Robinson
    Producer
  • Emily Park
    Producer
  • Jason Joo
    Key Cast
    "Gunter"
  • Lizzie Nguyen
    Key Cast
    "Clair"
  • Leo Zhang
    Director of Photography
    Chronovisor (2026), Crisis Actor (2026), Clean Slate (2025)
  • Michael Patten
    Additional Editing
    The Woman Who Could Read the Minds of Dogs (2026), Goodnight, Moon (2023), We Call him Super (2022)
  • Mirador
    Music
  • Sarah Lockwood
    Costume Designer
    Slam Frank The Musical Off-Broadway (2025), Hell's Kitchen on Broadway (2024), Desus & Mero on Showtime (2019-2022)
  • Devon Lin
    Production Designer
    La Cola Del Camarón (2023), Evening Angel (2026), World (2026) , The Patio (2026)
  • Cabe Thompson
    Casting By
    Oppenheimer (2023), Freaky Tales (2024), I'm a Virgo (2023), Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Shortcomings (2023)
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 24, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1.85:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Tim Sarmiento

TIM SARMIENTO is a Filipino-American filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He has produced work for acclaimed New York voices including DESUS & MERO, Ziwe Fumudoh, Paige Elkington, Anthony Anderson, Chad Moore, James Harris and Lawrence Schlossman (THROWING FITS), Kareem, and Anthony DiMieri (MELTED SOLIDS & LUCE NERA PICTURES)—earning him a reputation for his pragmatic, adaptable fluidity behind the camera. A maverick in the quietest way possible, ARE YOU DEPRESSED, OR JUST A CAT? marks his breakthrough into narrative observational storytelling.

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Director Statement

ARE YOU DEPRESSED, OR JUST A CAT? (AYDOJAC) was visually and tonally inspired by such classic surrealist films as Robert Altman’s 3 WOMEN (1977) and Luis Buñuel’s THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962), but it also owes an equal debt to the comedic and documentary instincts of Borat’s 2004 appearance on DA ALI G SHOW (see: Borat on Yoga and Soul Motion).

In AYDOJAC, I wanted to tell a story about misaligned romantic connection—one which results in platonic compassion. Gunter is adrift, looking for permission “to be”. Clair even serenades him, crooning over Lonesome Boy: “what has happened to men?” Gunter is trapped within the walls of adulthood’s expectations. Clair is his antithesis, breathlessly vulnerable and entirely put together, but secretly longing for affection. This is a story about the nature of care, and how we can extend empathy to those around us.

Formally, AYDOJAC is inspired by the languid observational cinema of Robert Bresson and Celine Sciamma. I sought to compose faces that spoke to each other in sequence and alluded to a felt sense. I chose gestures and glances over dialogue.