Skip to main content
Starfuckers film image, director Antonio Marziale

Starfuckers

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

Director
Cast

Antonio Marziale, Jonathan Slavin, Cole Doman

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2021

Language

English

Film Contact
15 min

Featured in:

Plastic Killer film image, director Jose Pozo

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.

 

MORE INFO

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Blue Heron

Dir. Sophy Romvari
90 min

In the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Steal This Story, Please!

Dir. Carl Deal & Tia Lessin
101 min

Urgent, provocative and unexpectedly funny, Steal This Story, Please! is a portrait of Amy Goodman, the host of the long-running progressive news show, Democracy Now!

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Departures

Dir. Neil Ely & Lloyd Eyre-Morgan
82 min

Two lads meet at an airport gate and begin monthly trips to Amsterdam together. Their chemistry is off the charts, but it's Jake who's calls the shots while Benji is the one who's emotionally invested. Comparisons to Pillion and Trainspotting are on mark.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Blue Film

Dir. Elliot Tuttle
82 min

This transgressive two hander puts an Only Fans camboy in a room with a secret admirer. Turns out they have history... Not an easy watch, but a film that will fuel discussion for those who are open to it.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Richest Woman in the World

Dir. Thierry Klifa
123 min

Isabelle Huppert plays cosmetics CEO Marianne in this teasingly ambivalent satire inspired by the Bettancourt Affair, when L'Oreal heir Francoise Bettancourt scandalized France by frittering away her fortune on a notorious celebrity photographer.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Mārama

Dir. Taratoa Stappard
94 min

Set in North Yorkshire, 1859, this creepy gothic horror plays like The Piano in reverse: a young Maori woman takes up a position as a governess to a wealthy whaler's child, but finds colonial skeletons in his closets.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

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 headshot, Starfuckers 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.