MUBI, a global distributor, streaming service, and production company, announces the streaming release date, trailer, and poster for Zia Anger’s semi-autobiographical debut film, My First Film, a metaphorical exploration of her artistic and personal experiences that blends documentary and feature film into a story about the transformative power of artistic self-reflection. My First Film premiered at this year’s CPH:DOX film festival and will stream exclusively on MUBI starting September 6, 2024.
Nearly 15 years after her initial efforts, Vita (Odessa Young) recounts the tumultuous process of directing her first semi-autobiographical film about a young woman who becomes pregnant and decides to leave home. The production, which includes her friend Dina (Devon Ross), enters a chaotic dimension due to Vita’s enthusiastic yet inexperienced approach, causing severe discomfort and a near-fatal accident. As Vita’s project unfolds, the film transforms into a reflective critique of artistic truth and the construction of narrative from personal experiences.
After the success of her multimedia performance of the same name in 2019, My First Film represents Zia Anger’s return to her artistic roots, revisiting her never-released film, ALWAYS ALL WAYS, ANNE MARIE, from the early days of her career. Departing from the interactive images and typed monologues of the original performance, Anger’s feature debut skillfully dramatizes this chaotic past and its untold truths, positioning itself as an autofiction journey that challenges traditional memoir boundaries.
Zia Anger works with moving images. In 2018, she began touring a new performance that retraces the last ten years of her scattered and abandoned work, titled My First Film. The performance was then adapted into a feature film. She has directed music videos for various artists including: Mitski, Beach House, and Jenny Hval. Her work has been described as “an outstanding contribution to radical transparency.”