An anxious, aging millennial, Arab-American Austin transplant goes on a mission to find the platonic love of her life after being dumped by her college bestie, but will have to figure out how to befriend herself first.
Director’s Vision for ‘Here to Make Friends’
What once started as a web series idea about trying (and failing) to make and maintain friendships in your adult years shortly after I moved from New York to Austin in 2016, eventually turned into a half-hour comedy pilot script that I developed in the Sundance Episodic Lab from 2021-2022. After finishing the lab, I knew I wanted a proof of concept short film of HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS to be the next project my brother Justin and I made as co-directors (years after our first short together, which was kindly shared by FilmShortage during the pandemic). What we didn’t know was that our scripted comedy quickly became a scripted fantasy, because Roe v. Wade was overturned the day before we rehearsed outside a Planned Parenthood in Austin (and 2 days before we’d film our first scene there, where a character goes for her scheduled abortion). Despite these circumstances, our amazing cast and crew pulled together to make a film that reflected the world we’d hope to live in again – one where reproductive choice is a given, not a debate. If a short film about adult friendships was the dog food, normalizing abortion soon became the heartworm medicine we’d sneak in there.
Are You Awake? is a deeply intimate story following a person who no longer sees the point of it all. With sprinkles of sci-fi and mystery, the film highlights the dread of staleness, the impact of a bad idea, and the role of companionship in a world weary to step outside. Feature script available.
