My First Film

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My First Film

R

Released Aug 30, 2024

1h 40m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

89%

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19 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Nearly 15 years later, Vita (Odessa Young), recounts making her first feature -- a semi-autobiographical film about a young woman who gets pregnant and decides to leave home. Being an enthusiastic but inexperienced filmmaker the shoot is chaotic, and her ego-tripping methods destroy the production. As her "first film" falls apart, director Zia Anger stages a lyrical auto-critique that probes the nature of artistic truth and personal mythmaking.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Moments that defy representation and that Anger nonetheless put onscreen with an originality and an audacity that are as personal as the events that they bring to life, as revolutionary as the times demand...

Sep 17, 2024

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Sheila O'Malley

RogerEbert.com

It’s rare to “meet” a new artist whose work is so personal it feels like a fingerprint.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 6, 2024

Full Review

Alissa Wilkinson

New York Times

I don’t know which parts of Vita’s life are drawn directly from Anger’s and which are her invention, but it doesn’t really matter — this is deeply personal work, and it shows.

Sep 5, 2024

Full Review

Anna Hoang

Boston Hassle

Unfinished projects and our presentation towards others might have been Anger’s cruces, but in making a movie like MY FIRST FILM, this year’s certain onion-oddity, honesty feels like karmic goodness.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jul 13, 2025

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Tina Kakadelis

Beyond the Cinerama Dome

My First Film is an ode to the messiness of creation, the bonds forged during marathon shoots, and the end product, abandoned or lauded.

Dec 20, 2024

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CJ Sheu

The News Lens International

Anger’s coming of age isn’t about arriving at the answers, but about knowing how to ask the questions.

Oct 31, 2024

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Dominique F

Intimate and thought-provoking.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/14/24

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Nexus S

UNWATCHABLE and pretentious. This movie seems like a school project, and is a waste of time. INDIE movies sometimes are bad, but this is a disaster.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/13/24

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Jamelia S

Not for regular people. Almost unwatchable.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/11/24

Full Review

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Zia Anger

Director

Odessa Young

Vita

Devon Ross

Actor

Cole Doman

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Philip Ettinger

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Synopsis

Nearly 15 years later, Vita (Odessa Young), recounts making her first feature -- a semi-autobiographical film about a young woman who gets pregnant and decides to leave home. Being an enthusiastic but inexperienced filmmaker the shoot is chaotic, and her ego-tripping methods destroy the production. As her "first film" falls apart, director Zia Anger stages a lyrical auto-critique that probes the nature of artistic truth and personal mythmaking.

Director: Zia Anger
Producer: Taylor Shung, Riel Roch-Decter
Screenwriter: Zia Anger, Billy Feldman
Distributor: MUBI
Production Co: MUBI, Memory
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 6, 2024
Runtime: 1h 40m

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