Private Project

exception(al)

A young Asian American university student grapples with what it means to be the only woman of color in her class when a film professor extends unwanted attention toward her. Based on a true story.

  • Michelle Bossy
    Director
  • Molly Powers Gallagher
    Writer
  • Michelle Bossy
    Producer
  • Molly Powers Gallagher
    Producer
  • Jeffrey Grover
    Producer
  • Monica Park
    Producer
  • Sandy Bainum
    Producer
  • Sandy Bainum
    Key Cast
  • Graham Campbell
    Key Cast
  • Viveca Chow
    Key Cast
  • Jesse Frances Epstein
    Key Cast
  • Molly Powers Gallagher
    Key Cast
  • Jeffrey Grover
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 17, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Michelle Bossy

Michelle Bossy is an award winning Mexican-American theater, television, and film director. Her films include: 18, She Grinds Her Own Coffee, The New 35, Friendly Neighborhood Coven, Ladies Lounge, Miracle Baby, Incurable, klutz, Chance of Showers, Antisemite, and The Trespassed. Under the Lantern Lit Sky and Nobody’s Home are Michelle’s feature films. Michelle’s films have premiered at the Austin Film Festival, St. Louis International Film Festival, Dances with Films, LA Shorts International Film Festival, and the Female Eye Film Festival, among dozens of others. She directed music videos for the band Yassou and singer/songwriter Brooke Josephson. Michelle directed the webseries There’s a Special Place in Hell for Fashion Bloggers and the kids’ show The Broadway Babies Show. Theater Michelle has directed in New York, across the US, and internationally includes Smile, The Oxy Complex, There andBack, Sex with Strangers, Every Good Girl Deserves Fun, Sex of the Baby, Cloven Tongues, Un Plugged In, South Beach Rapture, and Sarajevo’s Child. Michelle co-created the musical High School Confidential for Primary Stages, where she was the Associate Artistic Director. She holds the first undergraduate directing degree from Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts. This is her second year directing for the Disney Diversity Program. Member: Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and SDC. www.MichelleBossy.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

(director’s statement)

EXCEPTION(AL) is a drama set in the treacherous waters of film school. Molly Powers Gallagher (writer/producer/lead) draws from her own personal experiences as a young woman of color in an old boys' club where aggressions are micro and macro. I felt a symbiosis with the script as I too have often found myself to be the only minority woman in traditionally white/male spaces, which becomes especially complicated when trying to find your voice as an artist. EXCEPTION(AL) asks questions about power, privilege and allyship, finding strength in defying the devils you see coming and the dangers who are more subversive.

- Michelle Bossy

(writer’s statement)
I was the only Asian American woman & woman of color in my MFA film program. Looking back on my tenure in grad school, it is clear to me where I fell through the gaps because I was the only person in the room who looked like me. EXCEPTION(AL) explores the specific tension that many women of color face in traditionally white, male spaces – being treated as the “exception,” while feeling the pressure to be “exceptional” because you were lucky enough to beat the odds to make it there, even if you are inherently exceptional at what you do and who you are. Our film examines the intersection of gender, age, and race in academia, and ultimately celebrates a new generation of voices that can and will emerge from the breakdown of old systems.

- Molly Powers Gallagher