On the eve of her Catholic elementary school graduation, a young girl is pressured by her best friend to take communion for the first time, even though she is not Catholic.
Claire Gostin is a filmmaker from Gig Harbor, Washington. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California and is a 2020 graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a major in Film and Television Production.
When Claire was ten years old, she used to fall asleep every night believing that if she thought hard enough, she could wake up in the morning with her curly hair as straight as Anne Hathaway’s in her role as post-makeover Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries. As she grew older, Claire not only realized this was impractical (along with other less specific insecurities she dreamt of fixing), she also recognized how harmful movies had been on her own self-image. In high school, Claire discovered that she could combine her love of photography and writing, as well as her background in performing arts, into something all-encompassing: filmmaking. Claire found directing and along with it, her goal of ensuring that all types of women never failed to see themselves on the screen.
Last year, Claire was selected as one of four students to direct an undergraduate thesis film at USC. That film, LIMELIGHT, was recently awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the USC Feminist Media Festival and was a finalist in First Look, USC’s prestigious industry showcase. Claire hopes to continue writing and directing drama films that are always infused with a slight touch of humor.
DIRECTED BY CLAIRE GOSTIN
UNITED STATES | 2018 | ENGLISH LANGUAGE