An intimate evening between a film director and an escort is disrupted when a familiar face arrives. A very theatrical work that touches on many of the darker aspects of Hollywood stardom, a world of broken promises and crushed dreams. Fantastic performances, clever writing, and striking visuals keep it thoroughly engaging as it effortlessly bounces from uncomfortable to humorous, and from disturbing to full-on haunting by the end. Starfuckers is a brilliant and unpredictable take on a familiar theme, a riveting and progressively surreal indictment of a horrible industry-wide phenomenon unleashed by the rich and powerful.
Champs-Élysées Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize for Best American Independent Short Film
Community Partner
Antonio Marziale, Jonathan Slavin, Cole Doman
USA
2021
English
Featured in:
International Shorts: Having a Bad Day
Misadventures, bad choices, and a series of unfortunate events are all present in this program of short films. There is some serious drama and a bit of comedy on display in these exhilarating, thoughtful, and unpredictable tales.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
FernGully: The Last Rainforest
VIFF Kids Club is our monthly family series with films, crafts and more! Doors at 11 am for activities, film at 12. FernGully is a magical adventure where fairy Crysta and her friends seek to protect their rainforest home.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
This intimate and candid film by a younger husband and wife artist team is a delicate and immensely moving dual portrait of two artists, husband and wife, together and apart, at that point in life when the end casts a shadow over even the sunniest day.
Image: © Manon et Jacob and Final Cut For Real
Agatha's Almanac
Shot over six years on vibrant 16mm film, Agatha’s Almanac is an artful documentary portrait of filmmaker Amalie Atkin’s octogenarian aunt, who has fashioned herself an endearingly simple and self-sustaining lifestyle on her Manitoba farm.
Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story
Judging by this candid, funny, passionate biographical documentary, it would have been a wild ride to have been Irish novelist Edna O'Brien, or even to have been in her circle of friends and lovers. Well, for an hour and a half we can pretend we were.
The Art of Adventure
The unbelievable adventure story of how painter Robert Bateman and ecologist Bristol Foster drove a Land Rover from Africa to Australia in 1957, developing a love of nature to last a lifetime. An inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.
Credits
Executive Producer
Eli Raskin, Matthew Puccini, Charlotte Taschen
Producer
Eli Raskin
Screenwriter
Antonio Marziale
Cinematography
Matthew Pothier
Editor
Will Mayo
Production Design
Angelica Vasquez
Original Music
James William Blades, Taul Katz
Director
Antonio Marziale
Antonio Marziale was born in London, England and grew up in Switzerland. He graduated with a BFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon University and has starred in Alex Strangelove (Netflix), Altered Carbon (Netflix), and just wrapped shooting on an upcoming Dark Horse Entertainment / Netflix show.
