Director Oriana Ng and Producer Abigail Prade Discuss Their 18-Minute Film Short Marvel WALTZ FOR THREE – Part 2 of 2

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Is there anything that you would change in the film?

Director Oriana Ng
Yes.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Can you share that?

Director Oriana Ng
I always cringe between … So when he finishes his first dance and then the waltz, so they have these two scenes of dialogue and I don’t like the dialogue. I think we kind of get away with it because they’re such great actors that even if the dialogue isn’t necessarily the best; they sell it because they’re so amazing.

And then, we have the beautiful shots that Emilija did and the location. The production designer, Margot, did an amazing job as well. So I think we kind of get through that part, and it’s okay, and we need it for exposition to know that something happened to her husband.
But I just wish I had ridden it more elegantly. I’m also trying to be kind to myself. I’d only been in school for a little over a year, and I didn’t know how to write. I was writing from up here when you have to really write from here, and I think there’s just too much talking. It could have been much more elegant from a writer’s point of view.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
How did you get into film?

Producer Abigail Prade
Yeah. So, my background is actually in art history, and I did that for college, and all those …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Okay … art history. What do you mean by art history? You were…
Producer Abigail Prade
Studying art history in college, but I always …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Okay. So writing books and articles and reviews and stuff?

Producer Abigail Prade:
Yeah, more, not art itself, but painting, but it’s more studying art on an academic level. But I always wanted to make films. And my grandmother, this is like the days before IMDB, she always gave me this book like Leonard Maltin’s book, where you can see the …

He rates film by stars. Whenever we would watch a movie, we would look at what he wrote. Maybe something was a turkey and something else got five stars. My family really likes movies, but they didn’t really think filmmaking was good to do so. And then, I was like, ‘Well, I like art history, so I will study art history.’ And then, at one point, I was doing an internship at our national film museum in the Netherlands, and I thought, “This is really great, but I still want to make movies, and if I don’t do it now, I’m probably never going to do it again.

So then, I applied to go to NYU Film School, and I did the program in Singapore because I really love Asian art house films; I’m  also influenced by my grandmother,  she’s Chinese-Indonesian, and she was exploring her own roots, so she was watching a lot of Taiwanese films and ugly films. It was like, ‘Oh, that’s exciting to me.’ So then, I went to film school, but yeah, my family would still say, ‘Oh, Abby, she’s studying for unemployment.’ But …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
[inaudible 00:43:24]

Director Oriana Ng
Oh my God. Should I answer the same question?

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Oh, please, please, please.

Director Oriana Ng
I got into film because of Robert De Niro and Mart Scorsese, and this is not a joke, and that’s why I came to New York because I discovered their movies when I was 12.

My mother showed me The Godfather, and she skipped over the parts I shouldn’t watch, and I was somehow fascinated at 12 years old. And then, she was like, ‘Which actor do you like?’ I said, ‘I like this actor,’ and she was like, ‘Oh, well, that’s Robert De Niro. He’s very famous,’ but I was 12. I didn’t know better. So then, I watched almost all of his movies during my teenage years, and I got really interested in Scorsese.

And so, when I was 14, I Googled, Where did Scorsese go to school, and it said, NYU MFA Film, so I said, ‘Oh, that’s where I want to go.”

And then, it took me 11 years to get there, but I did eventually after going to business school because I was like, “I also did not want to study for my unemployment.” And then, I was like, “No, I don’t want to do this.”

My mother was really great because she didn’t know if it was a phase or not, and she was obviously worried, but she said, “Get a real degree first, and then if you still want to go to film school, I will help you pay for it.” And so, I got the real degree, and then the year I graduated, also, I got into NYU, and she supported me and also supported this movie.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Wow. Wow. I think I’m out of questions. Wait a minute. I might not be out of questions. Is there something you would like to have talked about that didn’t come up in conversation or I didn’t ask the question or something like that? What would you like to tell critics of the world? No, I’m not making sense. Let me …

Producer Abigail Prade
Yeah. Maybe we come across a certain way, but I’ll speak for myself, but there’s times where I’m crying and I feel very bad about myself and totally insecure and unsure. I’m like, “Oh, the film industry. I get frustrated.” I don’t think that’s also good to always be super confident and super sure because I think all of us have those doubts about yourself, and am I doing the right thing? I don’t know. Did I approach it the right way? We’ve all had moments like that.

Director Oriana Ng
Oh, and I echo that. We’re talking to you, and this is great, and we feel like, “Oh, we’re filmmakers” because we’re talking to Gregg Morris-the WORD, but then as soon as we hang up, it’s like, “I’m going to try to apply for a job. I’m going to try to do this, and then my movie gets rejected from yet another festival.”

This is the glamorous part, but it’s a struggle. I mean, I think we really have to love it to accept the struggle, but I also wanted to touch on something you said about being powerful. To me, what I was kind of implying earlier when I say I’m the least talented person in the room is I cannot make a movie by myself. You can write by yourself, and you have this autonomy and carry a project through alone, which I really envy because I can’t even write a script by myself.

Like for this, I actually had the actress come in and rehearse around it, and then I would be like, “No, no, that sounds terrible.” Then, I would go and rewrite it. I had them do improv. So the part, his solo dance, came from an improv where I was just throwing things at him, and he started to sing and dance. I was like, “Oh, this is great. I’m going to put it in a movie.”

And the moment where she breaks down in the waltz scene, that happened on set. And the way I wrote the script wasn’t like that. I wrote the script, and originally, she was dancing with him, and she put the jacket on him. She found her husband again, and she was enjoying that. But then, she, on set, started to cry. And then, I was like, “Oh, this is so much better than what I wrote.” So then, I just adjusted, and I was like, “Can you just do two turns where you’re really remembering your husband and you’re happy?” Because she had started to cry immediately.

I said, ‘Just don’t cry immediately.’ I mean, she’s such an incredible actress. I never had to tell an actor not to cry because she was so emotional and she has such incredible depth, so it’s the first time in my life ever that I had to tell an actor to hold back. So I said, “Just hold back for two turns, and the third turn, you can let go.”

But that was something she did. Also, when she puts her hand on him at the end, that was something she did. That wasn’t planned, and this is what I’m trying to tell you. When I’m saying I’m the least talented person in the room, it’s because all these people are so talented and everything that I write, my imagination will never live up to what Ophelie and Mikael, the actors, can do, or the way Emilija planned that shot, it was an accident.

We had another plan for the shot. We’re supposed to use a steady cam. The steady camera had the flu. It was like with fever, couldn’t do anything, and we had a tripod. I was kind of freaking out, but not showing it because I’m on a film set. I’m supposed to be the captain of the ship, right? But internally, I’m trying to push the shoot. It was the last day of filming was the last few hours.

I’m like, “Can we do it tomorrow? Can we?” And then, the AD mode, who was just really amazing, kind of came up to me. She’s like, “No, we have to do it.” Emilija looks at the room, and she stays for maybe a minute looking, and I’m not saying anything. Emilija’s like, “I think we can do it with a tripod, with a pan.” I was like, “What?” And then, she showed me the shot, and I didn’t get it.

And then, suddenly, I was like, “Oh, this is better than everything we had.” So this is what I’m saying. It’s like I don’t feel powerful because these people are better than me. If I’m good at anything, it’s just seeing those moments where they’re inspired and inspiring them. And then, when they’re on an instinct, I’m like, “Oh, go for it. Go for it. Give me more of that. Yeah, yeah, let’s keep that.” So if I have any, that’s my talent, but it’s completely dependent on all of their talents.

Producer Abigail Prade
Yeah. I will add to that. I think, Oriana and I talked about this, I felt quite bad during NYU Film School because I felt that I was like, “I know how to write papers, and now, I have to write and do something creative.” And now, I’m like, “I don’t know if it’s good. I think it might be bad.”

And with a paper, I know when it’s finished, and with something more creative, I don’t know when it’s finished because you can keep working on it forever trying to improve it. And so, I was really having a hard time in film school, and I think as you go through it, you also learn things that work for you. So for example, NYU, I would say it’s like… Well, I think maybe now they changed a little bit compared to when I was there, but the instinct …

Producer Abigail Prade
… is really more a traditional three-act structure, and I knew I don’t really want to make films like that, or I know I need to have some kind of structure, but I really like films that are mature and more languid and more atmospheric and moody and not necessarily have a huge plot. So I was really struggling with that.

But as you go through the program and as you grow older also, you just find things that work for you. So you just have to find the way that works for you, and it doesn’t matter if someone says like, ‘Oh, this is good or this is the only way to do it,’ because you have to find what works for you.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Okay. So there we go. I got a second recording. So we’re good. We’re good. Wow. Yes. I mean, it’s probably one of the heaviest, deepest interviews I’ve done in a while. I mean, it’s fired up all my cells and stuff. So I’m lucky that you guys can send it to … I feel very fortunate that you allow me to interview you and pick your brain and listen to your concerns and your fears.

I said powerful, but it’s… I see it as a power that’s athletes because basketball was so big. I mean, I’ve got to spend some time trying to flesh out. There’s got to be another way for me dealing with this power thing. I think it’s sort of like has something to do with strength, but I haven’t figured it out yet. I will tell you, probably 15 minutes after, I’m not saying go, but I was probably saying a few minutes after we break off, I’ll go, ‘Ah, that’s what I meant. I was using the wrong word.’ Yeah, anyway, sorry.

Director Oriana Ng
But I think it’s funny because when you said that, we both picked up on it …

Producer Abigail Prade
Yes, we were like …

Director Oriana Ng
… and I guess we’re not powerful, but I think it depends. The image, because when I made this movie, it was shot six years ago. We shot it in January 2020, and it took me four and a half years to finish it, which is something I hope to never do again.

But the thing is, I was really still in film school and learning, and the beauty about the NYU Grad Film program is kind of, they trust you, they give you these great means, and they’re like, ‘Go and make your film,’ but you’re learning as you go. I think the image that I have of myself when I’m directing now would be something like a table where the meal happens or a tray. I’m holding the tray or maybe if we’re in a room, on the walls of the room, but then what happens in the room is what Emilija, Mikael, everybody else is doing that.

I really think maybe when I was younger, and even when I made Waltz for Three, I didn’t fully own that, but now, I’m just trying to be like, I’m trying to create this space. I’m trying to create the context where magic happens, but I also don’t have to control everything. I don’t have to be the one, “Can you do this like that?

Can you move your head this way?” I’m creating the environment, and I’m trusting that the people I’ve chosen are talented enough that they will make it happen. I love being surprised on the film set. Something that I will take credit for on this film is that I really wanted to shoot chronologically. And for the most part, we shot chronologically. So there’s only one little part where we didn’t, but that scene, the waltz scene, which now, everybody’s like, “I think it’s the best scene in the movie.” And as I told you, a lot of it came up to other people’s contributions, and it wasn’t how I had envisioned it.

But the one thing that I think I did properly was I didn’t shoot it the first day. We shot it the last day. I think all the actors had been through this emotional journey and the crew, we had all been through it together, and I don’t think we would have had this moment of connection if we’d shot it on the first or the second day.

That’s a little bit, I guess, following theater methods, which I hadn’t done theater before, but I was always fascinated because you kind of rehearse and you rehearse and you discover, and there’s an order in which you rehearse. What I don’t like about filmmaking sometimes, it becomes very choppy. It’s like, “Okay, well, let’s shoot this first because efficiency and time is money and all that.” and I get that to some extent. But what Abby was saying about finding your process, to me, you cannot shoot that scene at any random time.

Producer Abigail Prade
Yeah. I think also, for me, it’s something that you learn because I think when people start out direct… I think actually, and there’s different kinds of filmmakers, but what I enjoy, and I think what Oriana also enjoys is embracing some of the uncertainty in some of the just being open to what might happen because other people will contribute, you’re choosing your team, and also really trusting the people that you choose because you chose them for a reason.

But I think when you start out, you’re a little bit more like, “Oh, it needs to be a certain way.” Again, there’s different types of directors, but what I found to be my trajectory as well is just learning to let go a little bit more so that …

Also, you can enjoy the process, and you can enjoy all the things that people bring to it because filmmaking is collaborative, and I don’t like it when… Well, I guess that’s my personal opinion, but I don’t like if a director is too much like, “It needs to be exactly this way because that’s the way I have it in my mind.” They bring their own things to the material, whether it’s cast or crew.

Director Oriana Ng
I was asked one time, “Are you a control freak because you’re the director?” And I said, “No, I don’t direct animation. If I was directing animation, maybe I would be a control freak, but between action and cut, I’m completely powerless.” If the actor decides to do something else and doesn’t want to say my line or the camera decides not to do the movement or whatever, I can’t action and cut. Everybody has free rein except me. I’m like, “I’m just sitting back and watching,” and I think you have to embrace that in a way.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Wow. I can’t think of anything else.

Producer Abigail Prade
There’s a documentary that I watched yesterday at Dances With Film that maybe you’re interested in because it explores some of the themes that you mentioned in your own work that you were interested in. It’s called Glendora.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
What is that? Glendora?

Producer Abigail Prade
Glendora. It’s a documentary about this community in the Mississippi Delta that was important. It was close to where Emmett Till was killed, and the community has been really overlooked just by the government. And even though they’re dealing, they’re struggling, the documentary showed how they are also, the communities uplifting each other. So I thought it was interesting.

Gregg Morris-the WORD:
Is that spelled L-E-N-D-O-R-A-D-O-R?

Director Oriana Ng
Yeah.

Producer Abigail Prade:
I think when you’re a filmmaker, you have an obsessive nature. So I see plays multiple times, and I’ve seen my favorite movies. I must have seen like 500 times. If there’s a screening, I’ll go to the theater, and if there’s a play, I’m going to watch it again and again if I really like it. “Oh, today, the actor did this different at that moment.” I remember all those things for no reason, but I like that you’re also kind of fascinated and try to see things over and over again when you love them because I have that, too.

– 30 –

 

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Director Oriana Ng and Producer Abigail Prade Discuss Their 18-Minute Film Short Marvel WALTZ FOR THREE
–Part 1 of 2

The filmmakers’ 18-minute short film WALTZ FOR THREE has that quintessential magic of a superb full-length feature. It was one of the many superb screenings at the 2026 Dances with Films Festival that recently wrapped.

WALTZ FOR THREE is an 18-minute short film directed by Oriana Ng. French subtitles. The story tells of a wealthy woman, Agnès who drives into a forest where prostitutes and their patrons hook up. She approaches Jean, a male prostitute, but she’s not seeking sex — she’s looking for companionship.

Jean complies and accompanies her to her mansion. Once there, while Agnès changes into comfortable clothes, Jean notices a ballerina statue and offers to dance with her. The film explores the transactional nature of paid intimacy while examining deeper themes of human connection, loneliness, and the emotional emptiness both characters carry.

The film is both poetic and lyrical and unfolds like an intimate chamber play, relying on silences, glances, and body language rather than dialogue. It’s a meditation on the tensions between connection and isolation, intimacy and restraint. It has screened at numerous festivals including St. Louis International Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival, and Dances With Films 2025, and has been recognized in multiple Oscar-qualifying competitions. WALTZ FOR THREE filmmakers at the time of this the WORD Q&A were planning on overseas screenings.

 

 

WALTZ FOR THREE: Edited for Style, Context, Clarification.
The Interview below rolled with Director Oriana Ng describing festivities at the prestigious 2026 Dances With Films Festival which recently wrapped.

Dances With Films (DWF:NY) 2026 was the 4th annual New York City edition of the bi-coastal independent film festival that champions creative, filmmaker-driven cinema with a focus on truly independent work — films made without major studio ties. It took place January 15–18 at Regal Union Square in Manhattan, featuring a diverse lineup of about 157 films across formats including narrative features, documentaries, shorts, midnight genre films, family films, and television/web pilots.

The festival showcases world premieres and premieres of indie films by emerging talents from around the world. DWF:NY has quickly become a notable platform for launching new voices in cinema, attracting audiences, critics, and industry professionals alike. Filmmaker-driven cinema is independent films where the creators’ artistic vision comes first, rather than studio-driven, mass-market priorities. The best of the derring-do filmmakers who sneer at the risk of making films on their terms, – a bit of an exaggeration this reviewer admits but not that much.

 

 

On with the Q&A

Director Oriana Ng
I mean, it’s really great. I’m really enjoying all the films. They’re very different, but the movies in our block were really exceptional. I was just blown away. Dances With Films is a really great festival for filmmakers. I also really like their selection process because of Lindsey Smith-Sands, festival director. She watches every single submission, and that’s very rare because sometimes festivals will take from the Sundance or whatever big festival, and then they’ll take those films, which is fine, of course, but I just appreciate that she and her team have their own taste and watch every single submission.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Okay. So my big question is, why did you make this movie?

Director Oriana Ng
The WALTZ FOR THREE one, right? {Note: The filmmakers had another superb short that screened but in the course of the conversation the focus was THE WALTZ. This reviewer luv-ed both of them.}

Gregg Morris-the WORD
There were only two characters in the film, so I kept wondering about where the third dancer was. I mean, that’s what was going in my head, but the thing that I liked about it, that my buttons were being pushed, and I could empathize and sympathize the awkward moments that weren’t all … I mean, it pulled me right into the movie …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
… and kept me there. It’s also a movie that you have to see. For me, you have to see at least three or four times because I pick up on stuff that I didn’t see the first time.

Director Oriana Ng
You’ve watched it more than once?

Gregg Morris-the WORD
This time, I’ve done it two and a half times.

Director Oriana Ng
Oh my goodness …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
No, no, no. It’s okay …

Director Oriana Ng
It’s so long. It’s 18 minutes.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Oh, that’s nothing. I mean, I did the 18 minutes. It was 18 wonderful minutes. (So engrossing because time seemed to pass fast).

Director Oriana Ng
Oh, thank you.

Gregg Morris-the WORD:
But I miss stuff. I mean, I want to write a review or something, and one of the gripes I have with other reviewers is they watch the film and then they interpret what they believe is going on and it has nothing to do with what the director or the filmmakers had in plan. So for me, to try to deal with that kind of dynamics, I have to see it more than once …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
… because I don’t want to write a review unless I’ve seen the film three to four times. Oh, believe me, that’s the only way I … Well, one, that’s the only way to really enjoy it because, “Wow, I didn’t see that, and wow, I thought that …” And if you’re with the right people at the right time that you’re watching this, it’s just a really glorious experience.

How’d you come up with the idea?

Director Oriana Ng
It was a mixture of two things. I was dealing with my … I found out my grandmother was very sick and had cancer at the time, so I was just thinking about grief, and I had grief in my life before and just thinking about that and loneliness because I think grief is something that… I think joy brings people together, and I think grief, even if you’re very close to someone, it kind of separates people because we all deal with it in different ways.

So I was thinking about grief and loneliness. And then, I’m very close friends with the actor, Mikael Mittelstadt, and I wanted to work with him because he’s such a close friend, and we had done little exercises together and we just get along really well.

The problem was I didn’t know what to cast him as, and at the time, he would get kind of typecast as this bad boy, edgy guy. I knew he had all this sensitivity that he, at the time, wasn’t cast as. Since then, his career has kind of skyrocketed, and he’s doing very well, and he’s done a lot of deeper roles, but I just wanted to find a role that could keep his kind of edginess like sexy edginess or whatever he has going on for him, but also where he would be able to show a sensitivity that, a vulnerability he hadn’t shown before.

He kept quoting Marcello Mastroianni. To me, he was saying, because Marcello Mastroianni, the great Italian actor, said that an actor is a, whether or not you agree with that statement.

And so, one day, he was saying that to me, and I looked at him, and I thought, “Oh, this could be interesting for you.” I’m also interested in gender reversals in movies. Even in Subway Crush, it’s like the guy who’s being objectified, whereas most of the time, it’s the woman. So with this, having a male prostitute picked up by a woman is something that I hadn’t seen before or very rarely. And so, I was thinking, ‘Oh, that could just be interesting as how to explore that.’

Gregg Morris-the WORD
What do you want your viewers to get out of this film? Or …

Director Oriana Ng
Yeah. Yeah, go for it.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Is that okay?

Director Oriana Ng
Yeah, yeah. I think if you can kind of connect to that sense of, if you’ve lost someone, which most people have, and there’s that moment of brief fleeting joy where you find them again, but then lose them again. I think that was what we were trying to recreate with the actors and also just the intimacy.

I don’t know if they try to connect, and maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but that fragile moment when you’re really opening up to someone, you’re really with someone. If, as an audience, you watch that and you feel that, I think that would be great. Yeah. I don’t know. Abby, I don’t know if you want to add anything to that. She’s worked on it. She has held me and she’s also a great writer, director, and she has held me through the process, logistically, emotionally, everything, so she knows. She was like through every rewrite of the script, so maybe you have a more objective point of view.

Producer Abigail Prade
Well, no, I think, of course, I think it fits because we were working on the film and you’re going through that situation with your grandmother. I think that grief and I think I also felt it in my life, I think it kind of permeates the film, that melancholy.

So I think what you were interested also in exploring was working with the actors and kind of really getting to know two characters really well and also work with them and improvise with them, so it was really about those two characters that are maybe in a more transactional relationship if they’re able to find that point of intimacy, and I think they do reach that moment. But as you said, it’s fragile because then they get back to normal life, and then they go their own way.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Wow. Okay. I’m going to bounce something off you. I did some background research and to find out what other reviewers were saying and what they thought they were saying and stuff. There’s this one line, “The film has been described as a meditation or human connection and an exploration of how closeness does not always equate to understanding.” What do you think about that? Is that…

Director Oriana Ng
An exploration of how close –

Gregg Morris-the WORD
I’m sorry. I’m going to keep going with that. The film has been described as a meditation on the human connection and an exploration of how closeness does not always equate to understanding.

Director Oriana Ng
Yeah, I kind of like that. I like that. I would say it depends what understanding means because I think he doesn’t understand her circumstances and she does not understand his circumstances, but at the same time, there’s like a primal …

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Primal?!

Director Oriana Ng
…emotional understanding that they have in one moment, and it goes beyond context, background, who you are. It’s just like empathy. I think when he holds her, I think he’s really lost, and he did that so well because I kind of let them find what to do in that scene.

A lot of it came from them and you can really see he’s lost, but he’s there for her and he’s maybe taking on something bigger than he can take on or he thinks he can take on. So I kind of agree. I think he doesn’t understand what’s going on, but he somehow still manages to connect with her, but maybe you disagree, Gregg. I don’t know.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Producer Abigail Prade
I think it’s very beautiful, actually, the way, and it’s like that reviewer said it very eloquently, maybe more eloquently than we can put it, but that’s also kind of the fun for us to see when people are getting out of the film, what they’re taking away from it. But I think I agree that there is a moment where they connect and they are close.

And actually, maybe it’s also an interesting question. Maybe you don’t need to understand each other in that moment. Maybe being there for each other, even if you don’t fully understand someone’s circumstances, maybe that could be enough at least for a moment.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
I hope I say this right. One of the really powerful things about that, there were a lot of what I call powerful things, was that it was 18 minutes, it’s considered a short film. So my understanding, and this is my understanding, so I know there might be holes in it, is that talking to other filmmakers who make short films, they make the short film in order to be able to make a feature film.

So if you were thinking about making a feature film, how would you do that? Because this felt like a feature film but it was in 18 minutes. And so, after the second time I watched it. .. What are your plans for the film?

Director Oriana Ng
I don’t know. I mean, I think when you have something that’s more or less working, which hopefully this is, it’s always fragile to kind of want to make it a bigger thing, but if a good idea came along, if, when I did think of it, I was thinking either I would choose her or him and make the feature all about either her or him, and then this Waltz encounter would just be kind of maybe in the middle or a little bit between the middle and the end like maybe two-thirds.

And maybe if we were following Jean, like his character, maybe we would see different encounters he’s having with different clients and a little bit more of the banter with the women at the beginning, the other prostitutes. And then, at one point, he would meet this mysterious woman, and that would somehow change his life. And then, we would get a sense that how things have changed for him and then maybe the movie would end, so I don’t know.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
Okay. So I guess the way that I asked the question is I assumed or thought you were already working on a feature, but you’re not. You’re accommodating my question speculating about what you do, but you haven’t already made a decision about whether you’re going to do it or not.

It’s a possibility, but it’s not like what with other (short) filmmakers, ‘Yeah, we did this and we know what we’re going to do this, and then we aren’t going to tell you what it is about, but you can say that it’s going to be a full feature film.’ So …

Producer Abigail Prade
Yeah, this film wasn’t made as a proof of concept for a feature film. It really was just as short on its own in the way at least it was conceived.

Gregg Morris-the WORD
So what are you guys planning on next? Oh, well, first, where do you go from here? You’re here in New York City with Dancing. Where does the film go from here? Where are you going to be showing it or screening somewhere else?

 

End of Part 1

 

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ADDIES BOI Film Short Introduction – Part 1

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ADDIES BOI: Two aging sugar babies who must navigate a bizarre “desire economy” via a provocative app as their youth and options dry up. The film writers are Louie Rinaldi and Zoe Tyson (who also stars in it) and directed by Jason Avezzano. According film publicity, the film is loosely based on the real world experiences of Louie Rinaldi and Zoe Tysonin companionship services. They’ve described it as a story that aims to move beyond typical victimized portrayals of sex work, instead embracing the grit and unconventional empowerment of its protagonists as they navigate joy, friendship, and the complexities of modern life.

The film is screening as part of Slamdance 2026’s lineup, which runs February 19-25 in Los Angeles.

“Desire economy”? – Refers to the modern marketplace where people’s desires, attention, and intimate needs are commodified and traded. It encompasses dating apps, sugar daddy/sugar baby platforms, content subscription services, companionship apps, and other platforms where emotional labor, attention, physical attraction, and intimacy become transactional. It’s part of the broader “attention economy” but specifically focused on romance, sex, and companionship as services.

End Part 1. Part 2 (Q&A and Review) Is in the Works

the WORD Editor Gregg W. Morris

 

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TRANGO Film Review

TRANGO follows internationally renowned athletes on an expedition to accomplish the first ever ski descent of the formidable Great Trango Towers in Pakistan. The Karakoram Range, home of the Trango Towers, is among the most extreme terrain on the planet. On May 9, 2024, Morrison, Lusti and their team were the first to successfully climb and ski down the 20K-foot West Face of Great Trango Tower. For those the WORD patrons not passionately into skiing and mountain climbing that’s the equivalent of The Mother of All Ski Downs.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Leo Hoorn, TRANGO documents the team’s preparation and execution of the descent. Joined by Nick McNutt and Chantel Astorga, Lusti and Morrison navigate risk, grief, and the physical and psychological demands of high-altitude exposure. At over 20,000 feet, their survival hinges every second on on trust, shared resilience, and the strength of their partnership.

TRANGO is scheduled to premiere on a VOD release on Documentary+ Friday, February 13. Additional streaming releases scheduled for Roku and other major platforms – along with a PBS broadcast in select markets in spring 2026.

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This writer-reviewer can’t recall ever reviewing a sports documentary as absorbing, engrossing, captivating, gripping, riveting, enthralling and spell binding as this 40-minute short documentary that feels like a full-throttle, head-on action-adventure feature doc. I also can’t recall reviewing a film as enigmatic and esoteric yet obsessively mesmerizing.
Note to the WORD patrons and other visitors: This film has a substantial melancholic flush caused by the perils TANGO characters and the production crew, the latter pretty much not seen in the course of the movie, face off against, the perils from the beginning and absolutely until the end with possible and harm always imminent. Many in an audience may feel what they feel.

TRANGO has been awarded as well as featured prominently at multiple mountain and adventure film festivals, such as the 2025 NZ Mountain Film Festival where it was highlighted as a Grand Prize Film. A quickie-survey of past film ratings just short of 10 reportedly because viewers were in awe of the cinematography as well as riveting storytelling as this reviewer is. Breathtaking vistas of Pakistan’s Great Trango Tower and the subsequent decent capturing both scale and danger in ways that go beyond typical adventure sports docs.
The film isn’t just about an sublime athletic achievement — it delves into risk, grief and trust among team members (and production staff not seen) giving it an emotional depth that resonates with audiences beyond just ski or mountaineering fans. Some reviews mention standout sound design and intimate moments that make viewers feel present at altitude, adding to the overall strong sensory experience. Verisimilitude, figuratively speaking, off the charts.

Yet, TRANGO has a limitation that feels intentional but isn’t. Viewers seeking conventional narrative arcs or explicit contextualization may find the film enigmatic and esoteric. But that withholding is precisely the point. Hoorn wants the audience to meet the film halfway, to read meaning in restraint.

Bottom line: TRANGO is a rigorously composed, quietly powerful film that treats extreme terrain not as spectacle but as a testing ground for attention, humility, and resolve. It’s less about conquering a place than about listening to it — and to oneself — under pressure.

Christi Lusti snapshot.

Trango Peaks

the WORD Editor, Reviewer Gregg W. Morris

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Film Review of Director Maiara Walsh’s Visually Sumptuous, Derring-do Erotic Pièce de Résistance, BIGHT

Two highbrow heterosexual couples – who regard themselves as blessed with privilege – agree to engage in an orchestrated single night sexual encounter to test the boundaries of power and desire. The reality is, however, that the sexual encounter isn’t just boundary-pushing or experimenting; it’s clearly sadomasochistic in nature. Consent is complicated by emotional pressure, psychological games, and provocation. Pain, humiliation, and psychological intensity are part of the encounter. It’s not about mutual playfulness or a casual exploration; it’s about asserting dominance.

Emotional and sexual boundaries overlap. The film emphasizes that the kinkiness here is inseparable from the characters’ interpersonal dynamics: Jealousy, vulnerability and arrogance all amplifying the sadomasochistic elements. So while the characters call it “experimentation,” it’s really a carefully choreographed BDSM-style scenario, with emphasis on control, submission and psychological tension rather than just casual sexual exploration.

So: Atticus (played by  Cameron Cowperthwaite) is a flustered artist who has just about given up on art. His wife Charlie (played by Director-Writer Maiara Walsh) struggles to rebuild her sense of self after a miscarriage.

Atticus and Charlie were invited to visit close friends Sebastian (played by Mark Hapka), a successful avant-garde erotic photographer specializing in Shibari art) and and his wife Naomi (played by Maya Stojan), a painter harboring dark secrets.

What begins as a dinner celebrating Sebastian’s latest exhibition evolves into a provocative exploration of intimacy and boundaries. As the evening unfolds, jealousy, betrayal, and suppressed tensions push the couples toward devastating consequences.

P.S. The ending is one of those endings that even a cinematic aficionado won’t see coming. 

the WORD Editor, Reviewe Gregg W. Morris

 

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A Quickie Film Review of MELANIA

 

Part 1 - Synopsis
🎬 Overview
MELANIA is a documentary film directed by Brett Ratner and co-produced by First Lady Melania Trump; there are other producers involved. MELANIA offers unprecedented access to the First Lady’s life in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 U.S. presidential inauguration, during which she prepares to resume her role as First Lady of the United States.📖 What the Film Shows:  A behind-the-scenes look at Melania Trump’s day-to-day responsibilities as she orchestrates inauguration plans and navigates the transition back into the White House.

Courtesy Brave New Films.

Exclusive, never-before-seen footage of critical meetings, private conversations, and personal moments involving Melania, her family, and key participants in the transition.
Scenes capturing the complex logistics and personal challenges of preparing for one of the most public roles in American life, including moving back to Washington, D.C., and managing ceremonial and family duties.
🎥 Style & Access
Unlike many political documentaries that rely on retrospective interviews or archival footage, Melania was filmed in real time during this critical period. It aims to immerse viewers in what the filmmakers and Melania herself describe as an intimate and unfiltered look at her personal and professional world during the transition.
📅 Release Info
The documentary has a wide theatrical release date of January 30, 2026, and is expected to be followed by availability on streaming (e.g., Amazon Prime Video) after its theatrical run.

 

Part 2

MELANIA: About First Lady Melania Trump is widely referred to in the press as the First Lady’s movie:
Hollywood Reporter The Guardian The Daily Beast The Daily Beast

📉 Critical & Public Reaction So Far
Negative and skeptical reactions are dominate: – The film has been review-bombed on early platforms like Letterboxd even before official general release, with many users giving one-star ratings and critics expecting similarly low scores on Rotten Tomatoes. (The Daily Beast)
Advance ticket sales are described as weak, with reports of “soft” sales and practically empty theaters in early showings - a sign of limited public interest. (The Guardian)
Analysts predict a poor box office outcome, potentially below 20% on Rotten Tomatoes and a low opening weekend compared to other big documentaries. (The Daily Beast)
The film has been controversial due to director Brett Ratner’s reputation and the perception by many that it’s overly promotional or politically driven. (The Guardian)

🎬 Notable Praise?
There isn’t much in the way of positive critical reviews yet, likely because the film hasn’t had a full critics’ rollout. A few politically sympathetic voices and supporters may praise it, and some insiders (like former President Trump) describe portions of the film as impressive, but these are promotional comments rather than independent reviews. (People.com)

🧠 General Context
Because the film has a polarizing subject and huge political context, online discussions blend criticism of the documentary itself with political sentiment about the Trumps and Brett Ratner. (The Daily Beast)

the WORD Editor Gregg W. Morris

 

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