Private Project

iChild

In a near dystopian future, a desperate woman joins a high stakes A.I. program that forces her to relive the past she swore she’d left behind, and the little girl trapped inside it.

  • Marta Méndez Cross
    Director
    Castle, Sober, Las Tres Sisters
  • Marta Méndez Cross
    Writer
    Sober, Las Tres Sisters, Feliz Navidad
  • Jolene Rodriguez
    Producer
    A Typical Pirate, Righteous Thieves
  • Jaina Lee Ortiz
    Key Cast
    "Nova"
    Rosewood, Station 19
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Drama, Latinx
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 14, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    20,000 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
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Marta Méndez Cross

Marta Méndez Cross is a filmmaker, writer, and director based in Los Angeles, committed to telling stories that shift the narrative for Latinx communities in film and television. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Marta began her career as an actress before moving behind the camera to create bold, emotionally resonant stories. She wrote and directed the sci-fi short iChild as part of the Sony, Women In Film, Broken English initiative, and is currently developing Hallmark’s first Latinx Christmas drama.

Her feature, Las Tres Sisters, a bilingual, intergenerational dramedy, was written, produced, and starred in by Marta, and had its theatrical release in 2025. She also produced and co-wrote Land of Shadowed Sand, a noir drama that earned the Audience Award at the prestigious Austin Film Festival. Her short We Breathe was recognized at the Oscar-qualifying Hollyshorts Festival, and she continues to advocate for inclusive storytelling as both a creator and community leader.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

iChild is a deeply personal film, born from my own journey of healing from childhood trauma, including the pain of sexual assault. It tells the story of Nova, a woman who lives in a world of isolation: physical, emotional, and even technological. She’s trapped in an endless cycle of guilt and hopelessness, stemming from being molested as a child by her father, and Nova’s mom’s inability to cope with it.

Nova’s only guiding voice is AIDA, an artificial intelligence implanted in her ear that offers advice, logic, and survival tactics. But AIDA isn’t just a futuristic tool; she is the voice of Nova’s subconscious, the rational counterweight that quiets the emotional turmoil in her head. It represents the programmed responses we develop to navigate trauma: protective, detached, and ultimately limited.

iChild explores the devastating impact of childhood trauma and the silence that surrounds it. It also shines a light on the healing power of self-compassion, and the inner child work that allows us to reclaim the parts of ourselves we thought were gone forever. I wanted to show how fragile hope can be, but also how resilient.

I spent years doing inner child work and through it, although painfully confronting, I found healing. As Nova confronts the innocence she once lost, she returns to the passion that once defined her: dance. This journey back to movement is a journey back to herself. By embracing the joy she felt as a child, she finds forgiveness, strength in her vulnerability, and ultimately, learns to love herself again.

Visually, I aimed for a stark yet intimate atmosphere, where moments of light and color break through Nova’s darkness. The camera lingers on her isolation, her struggle, and her reconnection to dance, capturing both the pain and the quiet beauty in her rediscovery of life. Working with the child actor to portray the younger version of Nova was especially important. Her innocence, her joy, and her longing are the essence of what Nova is fighting to reclaim.

iChild is a film about learning to love yourself, when love was never freely given. Through Nova’s story, I hope to reach anyone who has ever felt the weight of shame, who has ever been left with wounds that seem too deep to heal. There is hope. There is life beyond trauma. And there is a way back to yourself.

Marta Méndez Cross
Writer & Director, iChild