2020 ShortFest Archive
In competition for Best Live-Action Short Over 15 Minutes
film synopsis
film details
director biography
Portia A. Buckley is a British film-maker who completed her MFA in Writing & Directing Film at Tisch, NYU (2019). Raised in London, she graduated from the prestigious Courtauld Institute of Art, receiving a Distinction for her Masters, ‘Documentary, Photography & Film in Contemporary Art’ (2014). Portia is interested in merging the line between documentary and fiction as a way of highlighting contemporary socio-economic issues.
a word from director Portia A. Buckley
"BIRTHDAY GIRL is set in Moss Side, Manchester, a place synonymous throughout the UK with stories of gang culture, which have for years been the subject of nothing more than tabloid sensationalism and has never been depicted on screen. After spending time in the area and working with its community, my goal was to bring to light the stories I recorded of resilient single mothers, toxic masculinity, rudderless young men and absentees fathers."