EXCLUSIVE! The Autostraddle Premiere of “Sara”

One Summer. Two Girls. New York City.
.

Wanna watch a queer lady movie that doesn’t suck? Good news. This one starts now. Have you read our interview with Jessica Clark and seen the trailer? Okay, go do that. Are you back? Okay, let’s start!

Hello and welcome to the world premiere of Sara, a short film about two girls who have feelings and complicated lesbian love situations.

Stan wrote, directed and independently produced this DIY labor of love starring Jessica Clark (model & actress, c0-host of AE’s Lesbian Love) and Julissa Bermudez (host of MTV Jersey Shore’s AfterHours). The short screened at Outfest and the New York International Latino Film Festival last summer and is now available for the first time online.

Jessica Clark Julissa Bermudez Sara

Meet Jessica Clark (Lexus)

.

Originally from the UK with a British, Indian and Nigerian background, Jessica has modeled everywhere from New York to Milan, in leading fashion magazines and also starred as Usher’s love interest in his “Burn” video. She spent the better part of last year hosting Lesbian Love which aired on AfterEllen, where she and partner Lacey Stone dispensed all sorts of relationship advice to the young and gay and also open up about their own past and present. She’s currently adding “actress” to her resume and Sara is her first film.

Meet Julissa Bermudez (Sara)
.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Julissa is MTV’s go-to host these days, repeatedly asking the eternal question of “Why are Ronnie and Sammi still together?” on the Jersey Shore reunion specials. She has also appeared as a correspondent on BET’s 106 & Park and made appearances in several music videos and films.

The Film

.

.Okay, enough foreplay, watch the film!!!

OKAY DISCUSS.

Visit sarathefilm.com for an HD digital download as well as a special digital package which includes a 28 min cut, and making of Sara behind the scenes video.

Follow @jessicaclark and @julissab

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Jess

Jess is a pop culture junkie living in New York City. She enjoys endless debates about The L Word, Howard Stern, new techy gadgets, DVR, exploring the labyrinth of the Lesbian Internet, memoirs, working out, sushi, making lists, artsy things, anything Lady Gaga touches, traveling, puppies, and nyc in the fall. Find her on Twitter @jessxnyc or via email.

Jess has written 240 articles for us.

31 Comments

  1. That was such a good film! Really well done and definitely not a topic that I’ve seen before in a lesbian movie. Also, Jessica Clark needs to be in every move made from now until forever.

  2. From the side Jessica Clark looks kinda like Sarah Shahi BUT WITH A SUPER HOT ACCENT.

    is too sexy! is too sexy!

  3. I loved the scene with Lex’s friend Marcus and the other woman, and then the first scene when Sara is crying, but the film had so much more potential. I felt like I was watching an trailer for the movie instead. It was acknowledging these serious topics but why and to what end? I felt like the project was half-assed. Aside from that Jessica did have a “super hot accent” and Sarah is a bitchin cryer.

  5. a lesbian short film that’s actually good?! what a good idea! great job everyone who helped make this, it was really excellent.

  7. I don’t mean to be a debbie downer, but I don’t get why this is good. I felt as if I were watching the last episode before the final of some t.v. show and hadn’t seen any previous episodes. It didn’t seem complete, it just felt like a small piece of a bigger story.

    • i think the most we ever get from people is a small piece of a bigger story. probably there could’ve been a 3 hour movie that would have said as much as this 14 minute one did.

  9. I feel like this is like a piece of cinematic flash fiction. The beauty is in the brevity.

  10. Okay.

    Wow, that model’s acting was totally flat it was funny. And who hangs out in their tutor’s apartment broaching the subject of HIV with reference to his own relationship? Awkward-city. Another embarassment for lesbian film.

    • fire doesn’t defeat fire, but…

      why’d you post this? to maintain the running tally of the state of lesbian film and the of failures/achievements it can add to its nonexistent list of Things This Petty Girls Thinks?

      its art, dude. you ever try to make a film? one of the most difficult and rarely perfected forms of expression. this was a short, unpretentious story with a good premise and solid, dynamic acting. don’t be mean. its unbecoming a nice anonymous sandwich like yourself.

  11. i love a good short film the way i love a good short story… there is so much said about the humanity of each character through the brief moments we get to see them.
    I did wish that sara could have had more dimension.

    any chance of this being expanded into a feature film?

  12. :[ UM. I want more. Like now.

    Plus, everyone in the cast is pretty. I like pretty. I want more pretty.

  13. That was great. I was really impressed and intrigued to see a short lesbian film that dealt with issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, least to some degree.

    Also, I could really go for a sandwich.

  15. I liked it, but I felt that it raised an issue and then in some weirdly vague attempt to be artsy it just finished with a sort of grand “life in the city went on but they were frozen in that moment in time” kind of gesture.

  16. I thought it was beautiful.It did kind of lack an address to the problems it raised,but I don’t think the purpose of the short was to propose any solutions.Life is not about solutions its about experiences.

    p.s. Jessica Clark is a goddess.the end.

  17. Why is Jessica Clark’s character named after a car?
    Aside from that burning question, I quite enjoyed that.

  18. Interesting, under-explored subject matter. Lovely cinematography. Decent (if not top-notch, but meh whatever) acting. And yes, pretty ladies for sure. I like short films that only show you a slice of a life–sort of poetic flash-fiction in film form.

    All that said, I think it suffers from some very choppy editing choices and the story itself + flow of the scenes could use some serious tightening.

    Not a bad go of it, though, and I’m always glad to see someone making the effort to present subject matter like this *at all* AND to see women of color in more roles (especially gay ones), period.

  19. The story had some good potential, but honestly, the storyline plopped you right into the middle of a plot that wasn’t explained at all (Lex’s art/studies, Sara etc) and it just seemed so flat. It looked nice though…

  21. Even though this left me wanting more, that has more to do with my personal preferences than with this film.

    I think this was supposed to be about a moment in the lives of two people. One moment of many moments. Sometimes, it seems impossible to get through certain experiences, but somehow you survive, because what else are you gonna do?

    This felt real and honest, and to quote e, I liked it.

  22. I feel like this short was a little irresponsible. It goes so much deeper than that. There’s so much more to explore with both characters. I hope this goes further and becomes a feature, because there’s talent at work here–and I would love to see it developed.

  24. I guess I was expecting more? But that was a good way to end it, because what would you do? They are both beautiful.

  25. It has a lot more potential. The story felt like a flashback to a story that needs to be more developed. It would definitely work as a feature film.
    Good acting though. Both the actresses are beautiful!

Comments are closed.