BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY
Small town NZ, one sweltering summer. 13 year-old Sid Bookman starts to hang out with a ‘more experienced’ crowd, and with this, grows aware of her burgeoning sexuality. As New Year approaches, Sid is pushed to her limits in order to find acceptance, as she stumbles towards adulthood.
IN DEVELOPMENT
Coming of Age Drama
Reference films – Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Eighth Grade
Big Girls Don’t Cry (it’s name taken from the popular Fergie song playing on the radio in 2006) is a semi-autobiographical story about a girl who wants to be seen as an adult by everyone, but still needs her father to love her like a child. Set over one summer in the nostalgic early 2000’s, it’s a coming of age story that looks at female shame, womanhood, sexual identity, the relationships that shape us, the actions that define us, and the emotional roller coaster that is adolescence.
Developed in association with Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission.
Director.
Paloma Schneideman is a queer Israeli / Kiwi writer, director, musician and maker of things. She is based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), New Zealand.
Her interests have always gravitated towards the female experience, particularly the queer and diasporic experience, as that is the community she most identifies with. Her work is often hyper-realistic but underlined with dark comedy. She’s particularly interested in representation and diversifying the types stories we tell in Aotearoa. Whilst a creator of variation, common themes in her work explore queer existence, dysfunctional families, womanhood, and the tragedy that exists in everyday life.
Some of her highlights to date are having works selected for the NZ International Film Festival, Wairoa Maori Film Festival, Tahiti International Film Festival, and winning ‘Best Short’ at the Asian Micro Film Festival. In 2019 she received funding from the NZ Film Commission for her project Memory Foam; a short film that was selected to premier in the 2019 NZIFF + Show Me Shorts, where it was nominated for NZ's Best Short Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. This year she was selected to participate in NZ’s prestigious “Film Up” mentoring programme.
As a musician, Paloma produces and performs under the alias PollyHill, which has seen her headline gigs along side artists such as JessB, Half Queen and Imugi 이무기, performing in high profile shows such as The Other's Way Festival, Women's Refuge Fundraiser, and the 95BFM Fancy New Band Show case. She also goes under the pseudonym Connie Cash when co-creating with Shaquille Wasasala. Paloma composes and scores dance and film, with 2020 seeing further collaborations with artists' Jahra Wasasalaand Sofia Mcintyre.
Producer.
Vicky Pope is an award-winning producer with over 15 years experience working across film, television, digital media and advertising. Her short and feature film productions have sold around the world and screened in prestigious international festivals.
Vicky’s feature producing credits include Juliette Veber’s critically acclaimed theatrical documentary Trouble is My Business as well as NZ comedy Two Little Boys starring Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012. In 2013 Vicky produced and distributed independent documentary Gardening with Soul. The film was a local smash hit with sold-out screenings around the country; going on to become one of the highest grossing NZ documentary releases at the time, and winning Best Documentary at the 2013 NZ Film Awards.
She has produced award-winning shorts including Choice Night (Clermont, MIFF, BFI London) and The Graffiti of Mr Tupaia (Locarno, Sao Paulo, Bilbao, Hof, Montreal), that went onto to scoop Best Short Film, Best Screenplay and Best Performance at the NZ Film Awards. She also executive produced Meathead (Cannes, Berlin), Cold Snap (Venice, Hong Kong) and 43,000 Feet (Tribeca), amongst other short films.
Most recently she produced Sam Kelly’s debut feature Savage starring Jake Ryan and John Tui, that premiered in Busan and London BFI 2019 to strong critical response. Savage was released during the 2020 pandemic year and secured over $1.5M at the NZ box office placing it amongst the top 20 NZ film releases of all time. It is being sold internationally by Film Constellation.
Alongside her film work, Vicky has produced a number of digital media projects funded by NZ On Air including the award-winning transmedia project for NZ children Wild Eyes, and the interactive documentary Conversations with Teen Mums, produced in partnership with NZ integrated media company NZME and the NZ Herald. She also established and runs Wellington’s annual screenwriter’s residency programme “Write Room” in partnership with Rob Sarkies, Toi Poneke Art Centre and Wellington City Council.