FILM PORTFOLIO
Looking Back at Me // "Sade Bolger is an 18-year-old musician from Vermont. Recently having come out as non-binary, this documentary highlights Sade in relation to their passion for music, their unapologetic authenticity, and their place in Vermont in a genuine endeavor to influence the future, both online and in person. "Looking Back at Me" highlights Sade as they represent and give voice to the trans and nonbinary people in the world who constantly combat stigma and erasure. By telling their story, Sade displays the intersectionalitiy between identities, passions, and the places you call home." // 2017
Alex Escaja filmed "Looking Back at Me" at the age of 17 as a school project. The film went on to win a variety of national and international awards (below). It has also been screened at professional and academic institutions for educational purposes.
If you would like to screen the film or invite Alex or Sade as guest speakers, please contact alexescaja@gmail.com
SCREENINGS AND AWARDS
Women and Non-Binary Filmmakers Showcase
Vermont International Film Festival
FM LGBT Film Festival
Film Fest 52
Phillips Academy Interscholastic Film Festival *Audience Choice Award
Freedom & Unity Film Contest *2nd Place Winner, Ethnographic Film Award
YoungFilmmakers New York
Vermont Department of Children and Families
Outright Vermont Queer and Allied Youth Summit
University of Vermont English Symposium Workshop
Australia Cooks Hill Campus Workshop
WHAT WE HAVE // Video Editor & Creative Producer // "WHAT WE HAVE is a short film exploring transness, fashion, beauty, and Casey Knepley's thesis collection of the same title. The models share their experiences navigating gender, expression, and what it really means to have clothing "fit" // 2023
Vermont Department of Children and Families: LGBTQ Children & Youth in Foster Care Training // Hired as a freelance videographer to film, edit, and produce interviews for a training series commissioned by the Vermont DCF on supporting LGBTQ children and youth in the foster care system. This training is used to train social workers, other DCF employees, and foster families. Learn more at https://dcf.vermont.gov/resources/LGBTQ // 2018
Ex Post Facto // "From the point of view of a scanner machine, a nameless narrator, affected by the present, grasps at the past through a variety of unknown photographs." Essay video assignment for Video Art 148 at the University of Vermont // 2019
First Look 2020 Film Festival Trailer // Trailer edited for the First Look Film Festival hosted by the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York City, where I worked as an intern and Festival Coordinator // 2020
Intimate Enemy // Link coming soon. Video assignment based off the work of Alain Badiou for Cinema and Capitalism FTS 123 at the University of Vermont // 2019
A Tale of Traitors // Camera & Cinematographer // Kurosawa-inspired video assignment UVM Film and Television // 2019
Elliptical // Appropriation video assignment for Video Art 148 at the University of Vermont // 2019
Morado // A capture of domesticity / Color study project for Film Theory 121 at the University of Vermont // 2019
Severus // Radical Face Music Video // 2016
Space Euphoria // CineSpace Competition // Adobe After Effects Study // 2016
Sleeping Iceland // Cinematic Reel // 2015