Split Ends
From the festering wound of an impulsive decision is born Isa's fear that her abuela is forgetting her. Any twenty-something could tell you they’ve chopped off their hair as a means of regaining agency in uncertain times. Instant regret: what if this exacerbates her abuela’s dementia? Instant defiance: her mother's disapproving opinion is unwelcome. The harder Isa bites down on the spot of her tongue that tastes like remorse, the more decapitated hair crawls up her drain pipes; a manifestation of her complex anticipatory grief. No choice but to confront it. This horror is a commentary on Latinx beauty standards––especially ones that concern women's hair and are perpetuated by mothers.
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Cookie EstésDirector
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Cookie EstésWriter
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Jennifer KingProducer
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April AcevedoProducer
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Deisy Gomez1st Assistant Director
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Evita Ortega2nd Assistant Director
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Molly HernándezKey Cast"Isa"
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Daniella PereiraKey Cast"Clara"
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Nicholas EmmanueleDirector of Photography
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Miles Andersen1st Assistant Camera
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Jaxi AlegríaGaffer
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Maddie DodgeGaffer
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Caymen SheetsProduction Designer
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Sarah WhitcombIntimacy Coordinator
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Brad BrewingtonProduction Sound Mixer
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Cookie EstésEditor
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Olivia ReidAssistant Editor
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Sam HowellsColorist
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Gabby HendersonPost-Production Sound Mixer
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:family drama, psychological horror
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Runtime:10 minutes 17 seconds
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Completion Date:October 10, 2021
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Production Budget:1,100 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English, Spanish
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Aspect Ratio:2.39:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes - DePaul University
Migraineur, detail concerned, and lover of space (both negative and outer) Cookie Estés is a Cuban-American filmmaker and editor from Chicago. Estés’ work often explores mother-daughter relationships with tenderness and a dash of magical realism. Since graduating from DePaul University’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2020, this storyteller has been freelance editing, reviewing films for festivals, and, when the mood strikes, running off to the Smoky Mountains to write original screenplays off the grid.
Remembering, and being remembered. Split Ends, in all of the varying shapes and forms it’s taken on, was the buttress that sustained me during a grieving period. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay for a class final when my Abuelita still remembered my name most days. I took the project on as an independent study and flung myself into production when she was no longer able to feed herself. It was during the post-production process, sometime after the jump cut decision but before the opening song had been written, that she passed. I delicately prepared this deeply personal short to horrify you a little bit, to pinch you in the place where it hurts to lose a loved one to dementia. The protagonist is forced to look grief dead in the eye as its manifestation, her disembodied hair, threatens her life. Hair and grief are alike in that way, demanding to be acknowledged in order to be let go. Alongside, in spite of, and/or because of this project, I learned that grief is just love that believes it has no place to go. This happy ending, frozen in time, was where I outpoured my love.