Wild Dark Comedy Short Film GEMINI is an Intimate Portrait of Love, Loss, and Secrecy
I’ve got a great short film for you to watch that I think you’ll enjoy. I saw this at FilmQuest with an audience and the reaction of the audience while watching it was a lot of fun. This is a wild film.
Gemini is a standalone story and in it a “woman believes she knows the man she loves—until an unexpected event exposes a side of him she never saw coming. Based on true events, GEMINI is a darkly comedic and intimate portrait of love, loss, and secrecy.”
I don’t want to spoil anything, but the payoff of this film is pretty great in a very twisted way.
The film was written and directed by Naomi Christie. It is shared in collaboration with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we are looking to expose some of the great indie genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating.
I’ve included an interview with the filmmaker below along with the short!
What was the inspiration for your film? How did you come up with the idea?
While studying at the American Film Institute, I was told to "write from your scars, not your wounds." But with GEMINI, that’s not what I did. I wrote and shot this film from the most tender parts of my gaping wound. When my dad passed in the spring of 2024, my grief felt debilitating.
Then, I faced a breakup. It was a year marked by loss. But it was that second loss - a loss marked by betrayal - that sparked such intense anger in me, it eventually broke me out of my paralysis.
I felt this surge of energy that had to be released, and I channeled it into this dark comedy body horror about loss, betrayal, and heartbreak. GEMINI is a dark comedy because, in the face of pain, I think we often find a sense of humor to navigate through it all.
Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a filmmaker?
I'm Vietnamese-American director, writer, and photographer based in Los Angeles. I began my career in fashion photography and music videos. In 2022, I earned my MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute Conservatory.
My thesis film, Object of Desire, a darkly comedic short that explores the hypersexualization of Asian women, won the DGA Award for Best Director in the Asian American category.
Immediately after AFI, I secured management with 42MP, allowing me to expand into feature filmmaking. I am currently developing multiple feature screenplays while continuing to direct across film and music videos.
What inspires you to work within genre cinema and tell these kind of stories?
It's fun to explore storytelling with mixed-genres. Nothing is straightforward in real life. We are all living our own psychological-horror, dark comedy, or thriller in our own way.
What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?
Getting to collaborate with my friends on such a deeply personal project.
What are you most proud of with this film?
The way it avoids concealing the truth.
What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film you'd like to share?
I was healing through a breakup and gieving my dad while making this film. During the shoot, I definitely had this moment where I was like "whoa, everyone is here because of my heartbreak and grief and I really could be in a therapy session or having a friend dropping off a casserole while I'm laying in bed, but instead we are on set and I've chosen to direct a sex scene."
What was your most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?
The most challenging part of making the film was diving in emotionally charged without too much of a plan or budget. I don't recommend that.
Who were some of your collaborators and actors on the film? How did you start working with each other?
My actors were my closest friends. My best friend Patrick played my ex-boyfriend. Logan, my DP and I went to AFI together.
What is the best advice you've ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?
Make films for yourself and don't lose your voice - I took that to heart. My advice for new filmmakers is to know that the world gives to those who initiate.
What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for it? What kind of stories would you like to tell moving forward?
I am developing features currently! I hope to make more mixed-genre work that can resonate with people and put more representation on the screen. GEMINI is not a proof of concept for anything. Hopefully my dad is just having a good laugh in heaven whenever it streams for the angels.
What is your next project and when can we expect to see it?
I am working on writing some features right now. But in the meantime, always working on music videos, visual experiments, etc.
Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel? Social media handles?
yes! instagram.com/naomichristie www.naomichristie.com
Bonus Question #1: What is your all-time favorite film?
Before Sunrise