Experiencing Interruptions?

The Diary of Valeria

This experimental short film is an adaptation of the fictional main character’s diary entry. This diary, belonging to a transgender woman named Valeria, deals with personal and existential anxieties about her body.

  • Athena Jey
    Director
  • Athena Jey
    Key Cast
    "Valeria"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 5, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Athena Jey

Athena made her first few short films around 2014 during her time at Borough of Manhattan Community College. One film titled "The Letter" was runner-up for Best Narrative Short at the College's Film Festival that year.
Due to many circumstances that caused her to walk away from both school and a camera, she moved to Austin, TX to join the workforce. Primarily working in customer service jobs, filmmaking always called to her.

Ten years after her lost short films, she is back to creating with her camera and her voice. She is a video editor for an upcoming Youtube channel, makes basketball edits on TikTok, and is looking to use her voice in experimental film to express herself to the world and her community.

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Director Statement

There is this very odd thing about being a transgender
woman. It’s this idea that your existence as a trans
person is inherently and exclusively sexual. As if you
transitioned with the intent of sexual gratification,
regardless of what that looks like.

Women generally are looked at as sexual objects. So
when someone transitions to become female, its
looked at as someone wanting to become the sexual
object of straight male desires. This ignores the one
thing I know to be true: All women are human beings
with interests outside of sex. Shocking, I know!

However, we are people with interests and skin and
bones and we bleed and we cry. We love and we
hurt. We cry at beautiful songs. We love our friends
and families.

The Diary of Valeria was created after my body was
subject to sexual violence multiple times in the past
few years. This is an experimental narrative, but it
might as well be a documentary about trying to find
myself again.

The idea I’m wrestling with in this piece is: How does
one reclaim their body as one with the wind and trees
and the waves on the beach?

How does one reclaim their body as their own?
The idea of our bodies as temporary vessels intrigues
me. I am fascinated with what we do that makes us
human.