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 A SHORT FILM BY CALLIE KEELS JU & ALIA WILHELM 

Manhattan, 1983. Tasked with helping her father run his deli on the night of its 24/7 opening, an unassertive teenager distracts herself with dreams of superstardom, while, a few blocks away, her idol David Bowie embarks on tour​

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MOON
BABA
JAY JONES
TOOTHPASTE LADY
STYLIST 1
STYLIST 2
TEEN 1
TEEN 2
TEEN 3

FRIEND 1
FRIEND 2
BUSINESSMAN
TOURIST
PUNK
UPTOWN LADY
DOG
CUSTOMER


FORMAT
16MM
VHS

RUN TIME
12 MINUTES

COUNTRY ORIGIN
USA

 

AINUR ZHANIBECK
ISA CAMYAR                      
RYAN KNOWLES
REBECCA LAUREN
EDDIE DATZ
CALEB HAFEN
THEA HENRY
PARKER BROWN                         
JASON YANTO
ZAIAH ELLIS
SARAH MURRAY
JOSHUA KOSHY
TINA AMIRAH
MICHAEL JAMES MCGORY
ZEYNEP AKSEL
OTIS REIMERS
ALIA WILHELM

LANGUAGES

TURKISH

ENGLISH

 

SUBTITLES

ENGLISH SUBTITLES

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DIRECTED BY
CALLIE KEELS JU & ALIA WILHELM 

WRITTEN BY
CALLIE KEELS JU & ALIA WILHELM

PRODUCER
ALIA WILHELM

LINE PRODUCER
FARAH JABIR

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ADAM KOLODNY

PRODUCTION DESIGN
ERIN LASORSA & TAYLOR BARRY

COMPOSER
KERIM WILHELM

EDITOR
KATE PEDATELLA

HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST
HANNAH LAUREN DEL ROSARIO

COSTUME STYLIST
MERVE ELTEMUR

CASTING DIRECTOR
RAMONA JINGRU WANG

LOCATION MANAGER
JAMIE LASORSA

BTS PHOTOGRAPHERS
JAMES DE LEON
RAMONA JINGRU WANG
NUR GUZELDERE

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
EMILY COHN 

SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
BRENNA POWER

PRODUCTION SERVICES
SER NOCTURNA
ARIELLE FRIEDMAN
CAMILE GRIMALDI

KEY PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
AVI BHAYA

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
MARC IOSIF
JALEEL HILLS

GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ARZU ORHAN

COLLAGE ARTIST
ANDREA LUX

TOOTHPASTE AD ILLUSTRATOR
ALIINA KAURANNE

TITLES & CREDITS DESIGNER
MELEK ZERTAL

ART DEPARTMENT ASSISTANTS
HILARY EDEN
JAMIE HORTON
REX MORADFAR
MICHELE MOSES
JACLYN SCURIE


ARCHIVAL RESEARCHER
CHRISTINA BARTSON
ALIA WILHELM

1ST AC
LOGAN QUARLES

2ND AC / LOADER
WILL JONES

GAFFER
DAVID WILLIAMSON

KEY GRIP
KIERAN MCSHANE

SOUND MIXER
MARIYA CHULICHKOVA

ASSISTANT SOUND
CARA HUNTER

KEY HAIR STYLIST
CAYLEN CARA

AUDIO PLAYBACK
STEVEN JU

MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
BRIANNA RIVERA

SOUND DESIGNER
JACOB ZACHARIA

MUSIC RESEARCHER
ALEV KAYAGEL

VFX & ANIMATION
ALASDAIR WILLSON

COLORIST
NADIA KHAIRAT GOMEZ

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DIRECTORS STATEMENT

We conceive of Blisters as being a soulful and nostalgic coming-of-age story about cultural intersection, the psychic experience of daughterhood and the search for belonging. As directors, we channeled our own personal histories into the co-writing and co-directing of our first collaborative short film.

Set at the intersection of the real and the imagined, Blisters examines one day in an adolescent girl’s life that proves formative to her self-worth. A portrait of girlhood that takes place in 1980s New York, Blisters draws a parallel between the commercial pressures that shaped adolescence forty years ago and the way in which social media influences it now.

Through our main character’s journey, we hope to examine what being an outsider feels like, both within and beyond our own families, and how such an experience can provide loneliness and freedom in equal measure. Inspired by our relationships to our own heritage and homelands, Blisters is dedicated to anyone struggling to make sense of their place in the world.

CALLIE & ALIA

COPYRIGHT CALLIE KEELS 2025

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