LOG LINE
In the midst of the 2033 Cyber World War, Alex and Derrik sift through the debris of their relationship.
SETTING:
MINNEAPOLIS, USA
SHOT IN:
LOS ANGELES
MOOD
GROUNDED, INTIMATE
TENSION IS BUILT THROUGH
SOUND, LIGHTING, AND OVERSTIMULATION
SYNOPSIS
The year is 2033. The hybrid Cyber-Kinetic World War is in full effect. Derrik and Alex, growing up together in Minneapolis along with Chris and Vernessa, had hopes of doing life together. As the war became more consuming, their bond stood as one that could not be ruptured. The weight however, of grief from losing their child left Alex and Derrik ultimately deciding maybe it would be best to do life apart. Derrik and Alex, unsure how to navigate conversation, delicately unpack the words that went unsaid, sifting through their hearts as they slowly begin to find a landing place between them.
In the shift and technological changes of 2026 the story steps into an unknown world of the future. An imagined world where connection is optional and technological advancements continue to lead us towards separation. In this setting the story asks, what does it mean and look like for us to need each other?
WHY NOW
In a world where we are disconnected and connection is voluntary, what does it look like for us to need each other. It takes a village to come together and live a life.
Connection through disconnection
JENNIFER WAITHERA WAWERU, ALEX, WRITER, PRODUCER
Jennifer Waithera Waweru is a Kenyan-American Actress born and raised in the Twin Cities currently based in Los Angeles. Jennifer attended the University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program and has classically trained at the London Globe Theatre and London International School of Performing Arts.
Jennifer has worked in regional theater, television, film, commercial and print for companies like HBO, TVOne, Anytime Fitness and has been featured by Afropunk and Refinery29 Unbothered. In 2020, Jennifer produced and acted in a sizzle reel based on the play ‘Sweet’ by former professor and award winning Playwright/Screenwriter Harrison David Rivers.
Jennifer is currently a member of the IAMA Theatre Actor Summer Intensive 2026 Cohort. Face The World Short Film (2027) will be her writing debut.
Through her art and storytelling, Jennifer seeks to be a reflection of the human condition.
Recent Work: Supporting role in The Whisper Man (2026) Netflix Feature Film, Supporting role in Squawkman (2024) Short Film - AfroComic Con Film Festival Winner, Co-Star role in LoveCraft Country (2020)
JASMINE JESWET, DIRECTOR
Jasmine is a Director/Writer/Editor born & raised on the East Coast and graduate of Howard University with a B.A. in Radio TV & Film and SCAD-Atlanta with a M.F.A in TV & Film.
Jasmine's films often center around family and identity, showcasing BIPOC humans on screen. She was selected as a 2022 fellow into the Blackmagic Collective Filmmaker Advancement Initiative and the Alliance of Woman Directors Black Director Advancement Initiative (Cohort 2). Her short films have been selected in multiple film festivals around the world, even garnering semi finalist and finalist nominations. Some of Jasmine’s work has won Best Actress with the film “Daddy's Girl”, been featured in Bronze Lens Film Festival for the short docu-series “Been a SneakHerhead”, and won Best Ensemble and Honorable Mention for Best Female Director with "CAKE". Jasmine’s most recent short film, “Cherry” was nominated for Best Director and Best Actor in the OnSet ATL “Slate Awards”.
Jasmine has worked as a Director's Assistant and Producer's Assistant on television shows for networks and platforms like BET, Netflix, and Disney +. Her latest roles include working as a Director's Assistant on Marvel's IRONHEART series and working as coordinator for one of the founders of the production company, Proximity Media.
NIKIIYAH GEST, PRODUCER
Nikiiyah Gest is a Director/Producer/Writer Born in Dayton, raised in Cleveland, Ohio graduate of Ohio University with a degree in Education and a Master’s in Museum Studies from Southern University at New Orleans.
Nikiiyah is an alumni of the EICOP, Academy Gold and Disney on the Yard Programs. Nikiiyah is a former Recruiting Trainee/Coordinator for Sony Pictures Animation and working on projects such as K-Pop: Demon Hunters and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. She is the Director/Producer/Writer of the Short Film Her and Director/Producer of the upcoming documentary Behind the Crown.
Recent Credits: Director/Producer Behind The Crown (2026) Feature Film Documentary, Visual Development Coordinator/ Story & Editorial Coordinator BUDS (2025), Director/Producer/Writer Her (2023) Short Film, Recruiting Trainee/Coordinator K-Pop: Demon Hunters (2024), Recruiting Trainee/Coordinator Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2022)
ANDRE OZIM, DERRIK, PRODUCER
Andre is a stage and screen actor born February 26th to a Nigerian Igbo Mother. He found a love for acting a little later in life after leaving his sophomore year at University of Maryland, College Park while taking up Air Force ROTC and interning as a paralegal in Washington, D.C.
Andre studied abroad in London, England at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he trained in Shakespeare and Character Development. He later won Best Actor. Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival in one of his 1st films ‘Jahar’, a story following the tragic event of the Boston Marathon Bombing. In the same year he became a finalist in the 2016 ABC Showcase and since has done a National Broadway Tour for the Broadway Show “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Aaron Sorkin as well as a number of Off-Off Broadway plays.
Recent credits include: Co Star Recurring in the upcoming (2026) ‘Snowfall Spinoff’ TV Pilot on FX Networks, Aaron Sorkin's ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ 1st Broadway National Tour (2023-24) as ensemble and Tom Robinson (LEAD) Understudy, Co Star as Wilbur in ‘The Gilded Age’ (HBO Max), Co Star Recur as Albie in ‘You’ (Netflix), Co Star as Officer Dan in ‘Power’ (Starz), Co Star Recur as Bob Macadoo in ‘Winning Time’ (HBO Max).
