A 30 something year old lesbian from NYC documents a series of horrible dates as she tries to find the one.

http://www.daniellebero.com/fruitloops

https://www.instagram.com/fruitloopsfilm

Directed by Danielle Bero

Cast: Naomi Zabasajja

Director Statement:

I wanted to be a poet and film director since I was a kid because I wanted to tell critical stories and be ultimately be bossy. I wanted to tell stories and hold an audience captive momentarily with something incredible, just for a moment. The way Free Willy held me captive as a child. I ended up spending 17 years in education because everything seemed to being going to shit and it felt like the easiest way to make an impact. What do all my students over the last 17 years all have in common? .. they all consume media.. and a lot of it. No better way to make an impact than through film, more specially short films and series so people can pace themselves or get the bite sized chunks our ADHD world facilitates.
Growing up, I was not exposed to much queer media other than the occasional episode of Will and Grace, but not for lack of trying. By the time I got to college, The L Word was the closest we got to relationships that resembled ours. Any queer films or shows I could get my hands on was about belonging riddled in trauma- important stories to tell but it was the only lens that was filtering. I longed for something that showed the nuance, universality, humor and most importantly joy in lesbian relationships.
As a poet, I believe in exploring identity and experience as the substance of my art. Fruit Loops is the extension of my own experience which in some ways is a very universal one. This is my first project as a screenwriter and also as a director and after several decades in a different field, I was finally able to begin my pathway in film. I intentionally cultivated a cast and crew of women, nonbinary and queer folks to work on this mockumentary style short film. Fruit Loops is a love letter to queer storytelling where the focal point isn’t trauma or fighting for acceptance. I seek to display raw, genuine intersectionality and raw, genuine human connections in all their beauty and ugliness with the queer community as the backdrop for these stories being told.
It is time that entertainment and media can relate and connect to all facets of the human condition and not just the most dominant narratives. In a country that moves deeper each day in seeking to destroy the trans community and working to erase LGBTQIA+ rights, it is a priority now more than ever to tell joyful and normalizing stories to connect all of our experiences and find the humor in our struggles to find love and belonging.