CHARLIE IS NOT A BOY - A Disturbing Fairytale

U.S Premiere at Slamdance Film Festival, 2026 | European Premiere at Tampere Film Festival, 2026

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

A young, albino banker posing in their quirky grandmother's living room after her passing, dressed like her, smoking multiple cigarettes at once like her… living like her. This was the first character I imagined and photographed in Rio de Janeiro, where I was living nine years ago.

I decided to quit photography for cinema last year, I began a series of camera tests on random friends to morph my still world into motion. When Brooks (a dear friend and the lead actor of my short) walked into my apartment wearing an outfit that evoked a stylish, mourning grandmother, I knew my first project would be about this peculiar, resurfacing figure, whom I named Charlie.

The next day I sat down to sketch the outlines of the story. I had never worked on a script or any movie before. I wondered how to approach writing, but Charlie whispered an enduring tale into my ear right away. From there, my theater-directing instincts kicked in as I shaped Charlie’s odd world, inspired by French fantastic realists like Marcel Aymé, queer comic books, and the multitude of dark, whimsical American stories I grew up consuming. Yet, nothing inspired me more than Brooks' own journey — from lost Upstate New York kid to a radiant, non-binary performer in Los Angeles.

CAST

SELECTED CREDITS

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