The New York premiere of Caroline Lindy's romantic comedy, Your Monster, is set for opening night of the 14th annual Lower East Side Film Festival at Village East Cinema on Thursday, May 2. The film stars Melissa Barrera (Scream), who will be in attendance at the premiere, along with cast members Edmund Donovan (Tell Me Lies), Brian McCarthy (Paterson, The Americans), Taylor Trensch (Evil), and Kayla Foster (The Deuce, Call Jane) and crew members Caroline Lindy, Shannon Reilly, Scotty Anderson (Succession, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), and Maribeth Fox (A Quiet Place, Bottoms).
The film is directed and written by Caroline Lindy who introduced the film, which was based on her 2019 short of the same name, at Sundance this year and was picked up by Vertical. Her short was made with a grant awarded to Lindy by Women in Film. Lindy’s previous short Aspirational Slut received the 2022 SXSW Narrative Shorts Audience Award.
The story follows an aspiring actress Laura Franco (Barrera), whose life falls apart after a cancer diagnosis and devastating breakup. The soft-spoken actress finds her voice again when she meets a terrifying, yet weirdly charming Monster (Dewey) living in her closet.
Lindy and Foster produced, alongside Kira Carstensen and Melanie Donkers from Mermade, a division of Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountfor’s entertainment company Merman (Catastrohpe, Herself), which focuses on projects from emerging creators.
Over the past 14 years, The Lower East Side Film Festival has grown significantly. In its inaugural year, the LESFF crew turned a Lower East Side pop-up storefront space into a unique and intimate theater that featured a month-long residency of sold-out screenings of some of the independent film community’s most innovative new talent. Since then, the festival has premiered hundreds of short and feature films, hosted thousands of audience members, and has been deemed, “one of the most exciting under-the-radar film events in all of New York City” (Film. com). LESFF was featured in New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix (under Highbrow/Brilliant), The New York Times, Interview, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Post, IndieWire, Variety, and many many more.
Each year LESFF continues to create exclusive downtown NYC experiences including Drive-In Movie Theater Block Parties, live comedy shows, concerts, rooftop pool party screenings and more. LESFF has also launched a podcast on indie filmmaking, Below the Line, and secured distribution for its up-and-coming independent filmmakers. In 2022, LESFF launched The Stay Indie Project, an initiative to connect independent filmmakers with financing and production services for their narrative or documentary feature films.
The team at LESFF believes that great films are made with creativity, innovation, and heart. In spite of the awesome and famous talent that has passed through the festival, LESFF will always seek out the undiscovered and underdog filmmakers who know that a huge budget does not necessarily equal a great film.
Lower East Side Film Fedstival www.lesfilmfestival.com