{{Infobox film | name = My First Film | image = My First Film.jpg | alt = | caption = Promotional poster | director = Zia Anger | producer = {{Plainlist| * Taylor Shung * Riel Roch-Decter }} | writer = {{Plainlist| * Zia Anger * Billy Feldman }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Odessa Young * Devon Ross * Cole Doman * Jane Wickline * Seth Steinberg * Sage Ftacek * Abram Kurtz * Jackson Anthony * Philip Ettinger * Sarah Michelson * Ruby Max Fury }} <!--PER POSTER BILLING BLOCK--> | music = Perfume Genius | cinematography = Ashley Connor | editing = {{Plainlist| * Joe Bini * Matthew Hannam }} | production_companies = {{Plainlist| * Memory * Mubi }} | distributor = Mubi | released = {{Film date|2024|3|19|CPH:DOX|2024|8|30|United States|2024|9|6|streaming}} | runtime = 100 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = }}
'''''My First Film''''' is a 2024 American drama film directed by Zia Anger, who {{nowrap|co-wrote}} the screenplay with Billy Feldman. A {{nowrap|semi-autobiographical}} film based on Anger's experiences, it stars Odessa Young as a young filmmaker who recounts the struggle to make her first feature film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cphdox.dk/film/my-first-film/|title=My First Film|website=CPH:DOX|access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref>
The film had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen on March 19, 2024, then had a limited release on August 30 before streaming on Mubi on September 6. It received critical acclaim.
==Cast== * Odessa Young as Vita * Devon Ross as Dina * Cole Doman as JJ * Jane Wickline as Alexis * Philip Ettinger as Dustin * Eamon Farren as Joe * Eleanore Hendricks as Sylvia * Sage Ftacek as Bobby * Jackson Anthony as Sound Guy * Seth Steinberg as Sam * Sarah Michelson as Doctor * Abram Kurtz as Cash * Ruby Max Fury as Dad
==Production== Between 2010 and 2012, Zia Anger shot her first feature film ''Always All Ways, Anne Marie'' with her family and friends as cast and crew,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://businessdoceurope.com/cphdox-nextwave-interview-my-first-film-by-zia-anger/|title=CPH:DOX Next:Wave interview: My First Film by Zia Anger|website=Business Doc Europe|first=Davide|last=Abbatescanni|date=March 25, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.documentary.org/online-feature/going-through-every-emotion-important-zia-anger-morphs-desktop-documentary|title="Going Through Every Emotion Is Important": Zia Anger Morphs Desktop Documentary Performance 'My First Film' Into Fiction|website=International Documentary Association|first=Alex|last=Lei|date=June 19, 2014|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> but the project was rejected by multiple film festivals and left as "abandoned" on IMDb.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://elephant.art/interview-with-zia-anger-on-her-new-movie-my-first-film/|title="Every Version of it Tore Me Apart": Zia Anger on Her New Movie 'My First Film'|website=Elephant|first=Shanekia|last=McIntosh|date=August 30, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> Anger then created an interactive live performance due to her frustration with filmmaking and festivals, using a TextEdit documentary and QuickTime files of the feature film, involving viewers through iMessage and AirDrop.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/zia-anger-odessa-young-interview-my-first-film/|title=Interview: Zia Anger and Odessa Young on the Freedoms of 'My First Film'|website=Slant Magazine|first=Marshall|last=Shaffer|date=August 31, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thefilmstage.com/i-hate-her-zia-anger-on-the-thorny-self-portrait-my-first-film/|title="I Hate Her": Zia Anger on the Thorny Self-Portrait 'My First Film'|website=The Film Stage|first=Nick|last=Newman|date=August 29, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref>
Anger and Billy Feldman began writing the film's screenplay during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://moveablefest.com/zia-anger-my-first-film/|title=Zia Anger on Reconciling an Experience with Perspective in My First Film|website=Moveable Fest|first=Stephen|last=Saito|date=August 30, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/zia-anger-odessa-young-my-first-film-interview-1235043330/|title=When Zia Anger Cast Odessa Young as a Stand-In for Herself in 'My First Film', an Unbreakable Bond Was Forged|website=IndieWire|first=Keresna|last=Cadenas|date=September 4, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> Odessa Young, Devon Ross, Cole Doman, Jane Wickline, Philip Ettinger, Eamon Farren, Eleanore Hendricks, Sage Ftacek, Jackson Anthony, Seth Steinberg, Hailey Gates, Sarah Michelson, Abram Kurtz, and Ruby Max Fury joined the cast of the film in November 2022, with Anger set to direct and Mubi set to produce and distribute.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/11/odessa-young-my-first-film-zia-anger-mubi-movie-1235179305/|title=Zia Anger's 'My First Film' From Mubi Sets Odessa Young As Lead|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|date=November 21, 2022|access-date=February 28, 2024}}</ref>
==Release== It had its world premiere at CPH:DOX on March 19, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/documentary-film-festival-cphdox-competition-lineup-1235911079/|title=Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX Unveils Competition Lineup|website=Variety|first=Leo|last=Barraclough|date=February 15, 2024|access-date=February 28, 2024}}</ref> It received a limited release on August 30, 2024, and began streaming on Mubi on September 6, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/trailers/zia-anger-my-first-film-trailer-odessa-young-watch-1235033551/|title='My First Film' Trailer: Zia Anger's Feature Debut Is a Filmmaking Hall of Mirrors Starring Odessa Young|website=IndieWire|first=Ryan|last=Lattanzio|date=August 8, 2024|access-date=August 8, 2024}}</ref>
==Reception== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|91|7.80|11|consensus=|ref=yes|access-date=September 7, 2024}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_first_film|title=My First Film|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=September 6, 2024}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|81|6|ref=yes|access-date=September 6, 2024}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/my-first-film/|title=My First Film|website=Metacritic|access-date=September 7, 2024}}</ref>
Natalie Winkelman of ''IndieWire'' gave the film an A− and wrote, "''My First Film'' is, at its core, a movie not about upheaval but about yearning, and about how, sometimes, giving that yearning up can be a beautiful, generous act of creation all its own."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/my-first-film-review-zia-anger-movie-review-1235038687/|title='My First Film' Review: Zia Anger's Origin Story Establishes Her as an Electrifying New Voice in American Indie Film|website=IndieWire|first=Natalie|last=Winkelman|date=August 21, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref> Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker'' praised the film and called it "a masterwork of an artistic coming-of-age and a virtuosic reconception of the art of cinema itself".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-metafictional-ingenuity-of-my-first-film|title=The Metafictional Ingenuity of My First Film|website=The New Yorker|first=Richard|last=Brody|date=September 4, 2024|access-date=September 5, 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDB title|tt23778542}}
Category:2024 directorial debut films Category:American drama films Category:Films about filmmaking