All screenings will take place at
COLLEGE OF THE DESERT | POLLOCK THEATER
43500 Monterey Ave, Palm Desert, CA
Synopsis
Cheered on by her best friend, a teen confronts her greatest fear – tampons.
SYLVIA RAY is a writer, director, and co-founder of VKTRY Creative Studios. As a storyteller, she is passionate about projects that are inclusive, fearless, and truthful. Having grown up in a small desert town — where nearly half the population lives beneath the poverty line — and moving to Los Angeles as a young adult, she draws inspiration from her own self discipline and determination, and provides a unique perspective as a Korean/Mexican-American woman. In the last 18 months, Sylvia has directed six shorts and written a feature length screenplay. She has also worked creatively with clients such as Magnopus, Disney, and Disney-Pixar. She is an active member of Women in Film and the Los Angeles Women’s Film Coalition. Sylvia is a California native, was born and raised in the high desert, and earned a degree in Communications while minoring in Asian Studies at Cal State Fullerton. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons. IG: @sylbialin Twitter: @sylbee
A Period Piece a short story I wrote during a time that I was trying to rediscover my identity after having two children. I was in a place where I needed to remember my roots, my passions, and the relationships that shaped me in order to rebuild my identity and transform into the goal-oriented person I am today.
This short is loosely based on my experiences as a teenager in Barstow, a small desert town between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I vividly remember jumping fences to swim in community pools, flirting with boys in the trailer park, and having wild desert adventures with my best friends. It was important for me to cast two young women who had authentic chemistry. Thankfully, my actors were friends in real life and it was easy for them to jump into the rolls. We were also lucky to secure film at the exact same trailer park that I spent a lot of my youth in, giving more relevance to the location.
The main message of the film is ultimately female empowerment. After speaking with several women about our first time putting a tampon in, we all had that same fear beforehand and same sense of empowerment afterwards. Taking control of something that could ultimately hold you back is so empowering and I hope that reads on the screen. Women grow up constantly battling for control over their bodies (among many other things) and I wanted this to send a message to women saying “Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way.”
