Donna
Nubile in post-production
Nubile, a proof-of-concept short film, is nearing completion. Shot in New London, Connecticut, we are waiting on the film’s score and plan to release the short in 2025. Nubile, based on my mother’s kidnapping, focuses on a teenage immigrant who takes refuge in a church in the middle of the night to escape her pursuer only to discover another teenage immigrant already hiding out–The Madonna. With Fina Strazza and Sara James seen below. Co-directed by Kevin Newbury and Donna Di Novelli. Screenplay by Donna Di Novelli. Stay tuned for updates.
When Last Seen screens at NY International Short Film Festival at Cinema Village
On October 14th, When Last Seen screened at New York’s Cinema Village to a crowd of film enthusiasts and supporters.
“WHEN LAST SEEN” wins award from the NYC Women’s fund/NYFA/MOME
Our team is so chuffed by this award which will give us finishing funds to complete our short movie, “When Last Seen,” an adaptation of the Persephone and Demeter Greek myth using found text to carry the search for the missing daughter into the present.
#NYCWomensFund #MOME
The Relevance of “Nubile”–my latest screenplay
“Ms. Maxwell would refer to the girls she was looking for as “nubiles,” Ms. Farmer said. “They had a driver, and he would be driving along, and Ghislaine would say, ‘Get that girl,’” she said. “And they’d stop, and she’d run out and get the girl and talk to her.”
Lawyers for Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein did not respond to requests for comment for this article.” New York Times
Rehearsals for BAM’s Next Wave
Kevin Newbury in action with The Good Swimmer lifeguards.
Madeline’s Madeline is now available digitally
iTunes, Vimeo, Amazon, etc. Here’s the link from Oscilloscope:
Response to Brett Kavanaugh’s Yearbook. The First Eff.
THE FOUR EFFS
I walk into a classroom. There is no teacher present. Across the blackboard in large chalk letters are the words:
Name the Four F’s.
Everyone else is already seated; paper and pencil poised.
I am confused. Did I forget to study for this quiz? And what subject is this?
A geography question? (I can’t get beyond Finland, France… Fiji…)
Language arts? (All I can think of is the word infinitive.)
Then I noticed that all the boys are laughing and poking each other in the ribs. Jean-Marie Agnold gets up–except now she’s Connie Francis– and erases the board.
The boys throw pencils at her. She hides under the teacher’s desk.
I look at the boys and think “Ffffffff…..Fart!”
At the count of three, all the boys grab a girl.
Walter Donovan grabs my arm because he gave me his lucky rabbit foot two weeks ago and so considers me his girlfriend. All the boys laugh as they try to whisper the answer to the Girl of their Choice
They end up yelling:
“Find ‘em. Feel ‘em. Fuck ‘em. Forget ‘em.” I run home.
Home is a long way away and as I run, I notice Walter Donovan running after me.
No one is on the street And it is suddenly night.
Roots on the path trip me.
I get up and run with Walter on my heels Making “eff” sounds with his mouth.
I make it to the house, slam the door
And scramble up the stairs to our second floor apartment. I run into the kitchen out of breath and begin pulling down all the window shades. My mother is washing dishes and notices Walter outside
Staring up at her.
“Oh, look, “ she says, “Walter Donovan. “Why don’t you ask him in?”
© The First Eff, a stage play, by Donna Di Novelli