Sisters Addie and Xandra (played by Piper De Palma and Ruby Modine) come to terms with a dark secret from the past in one explosive afternoon.

Interview with Director Alec Tibaldi

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thank you. In my first short film, Ride or Die, I explored the secret lives of teenagers, in a sort of twisted coming of age tale. For this project, I wanted to keep the focus on a teenage protagonist but this time explore a complicated family dynamic and see how that plays out.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

This film is a short character study about an afternoon in the lives of two sisters. I hope audiences will enjoy seeing the performances by our two leads, Piper de Palma and Ruby Modine.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The theme I was most interested in exploring was neglect. I wanted to represent a relationship between a mother and son, that is very loving and affectionate, while at the same time neglectful and irresponsible.

I’ve always believed that love is not enough to make someone a good parent and I wanted to portray that in the way that Ruby’s character interacts with her son.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

We went through quite a few drafts of the script. I co-wrote this with Anne Berkowitz, a talented playwright and actress from New York. It was very important to me to have a woman’s voice in the writing and Anne wrote much of the dialogue. The film also evolved a lot on set, with each actor exploring the scenes while filming. That evolution continued in the editing room where we made cuts and shaped the movie. What I love most about filmmaking is how collaborative it is. This idea I had one night, evolved so much thanks to the talented people that helped shape it and make it what it is.

After School - Ruby Modine

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We premiered it at Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, this past weekend. I was so honored to have the film shown at a festival of this caliber and even more surprised to have won the directorial discovery award. Audiences seemed intrigued and interested in the film, and several people commented that they wanted more.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I always intended for this film to be an entrée to a longer piece, which is why we are adapting the short into a feature. I was happy to see that audiences wanted more and thankful that they connected with the film.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We are hoping to garner interest from other festivals that might want to screen our film and eventually hope to distribute the film online for audiences once we’ve completed our festival run.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

It would be fantastic to attract programmers and distributors so we can get the film some visibility.

After School - Piper de Palma

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I hope that it makes audiences question the complicating job of parenting. I also hope that it makes them think about the differences between motherhood and fatherhood and the different standard we hold these roles to.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Co-writer Anne Berkowitz is directing a short film called Implicit about racial bias.

Ruby Modine had a starring role in James Franco’s Memoria which is now available on Netflix and will appear on Showtime’s Shameless later this year.

Producer Magaajyia Silberfeld is working on her next short film Vagabonds, starring Danny Glover.

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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After School

Sisters Addie and Xandra (played Piper De Palma and Ruby Modine) come to terms with a dark secret from the past in one explosive afternoon.

Length: 10 minutes

Director: Alec Tibaldi

Producer: Magaajyia Silberfeld

Writer: Anne Berkowitz, Alec Tibaldi

About the writer, director and producer:

Alec Tibaldi; Alec was born in Australia and raised in Rome and New York. He fell in love with movies at the age of eight and started acting with small parts in the films Somebody Is Waiting (1996) with Nastassja Kinski and Claudine’s Return (1998) with Christina Applegate. He began performing onstage at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York and has studied at Stella Adler Studios and The Lee Strasberg Institute. Alec had a lead role in the film Pro-trusion (official selection at Rotterdam International Film Festival, 2011). His directorial debut, the award winning short film Ride or Die, has screened at festivals around the world and won accolades for it’s acting and directing

Anne Berkowitz, co-writer of the film AFTER SCHOOL and the creator of the series CONVERSATIONS ANNE HAS AT NIGHT. Acting credits include Broadway’s August Osage County.

Key cast: Piper de Palma, Ruby Modine, Tijera Wright, Ronan Barbour, David Lansky.

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Looking foe all of the above: producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists

Release date: TBA

Where can I watch it in the next month? TBA