Penny for your Thoughts
From the Archives
•
Short Films, Fantasy, Documentary, 23-Mar-2023
Recalling a story from her youth, a grandmother reckons with a life-changing decision and tries to reconnect with a mystical source. Tatiana Tift directs “Penny for your Thoughts,” a magical realist hybrid fiction about memory and identity. What at first appears to be a straightforward portrait of Alda Smith, a woman who makes copper jewelry, soon moves into the realm of a fairy tale. Smith recounts a fateful day when she was young playing in the woods by her house and coming across a mysterious woman standing behind a booth. The woman offers her valuable coins but it comes with a price she’s still living with today. The film is effective because the lead performance feels utterly real and because the fanciful premise is delivered with emotional heft, self-assuredness and originality. -KA. Director: Tatiana Tift. Cast: Beth Francisco, Virginia Archibald, Ariana Tift. Main Photographer: Isabelle Grybow. Director of Photography: Chalky the King and Noah Llyod Torres. Makeup Artist: Leanne Mattern. Colorist: Noah Gonci. Set Designers: Tracey Tift, Lissette Tift.
Up Next in From the Archives
-
Full Time
A skater is offered a job by a mysterious businessman. Jon Ryan Sugimoto directs “Full Time,” a social satire on corporate America and modern work culture where a recent high-school graduate is given a lucrative opportunity: to stand in a square all day for the rest of his life. Still in their gr...
-
Lorraine Was on the News
When a fire starts in Queens, a news reporter attempts to get the scoop from a rambling eccentric named Lorraine. It’s “Grey Gardens” meets local news in this brilliant sendup of awkward TV appearances written by and starring Cole Escola. "Lorraine Was On The News!" only needs one shot — a slow t...
-
Stay at Home Movie
While stuck at home during lockdown, a Russian woman living in L.A. ponders how to stay busy and convince herself everything’s okay. “Stay At Home Movie,” made by Sasha Lebedeva — she writes, shoots, edits, color grades, and stars — is a simple but stylish self-portrait of boredom and restlessnes...
