Seed & Spark Crowdfunding: SWEETIE

Just found out about this crowdfunding campaign on Instagram for short film SWEETIE. It’s a Christmas movie only the red doesn’t just represent Santa’s suit. It features a young black girl who gets her period at the age of 10 and is completely unprepared.

@swetieshortfilm (IG) is written/directed by Christl Stringer @christlstringer and Produced by Spencer Kelly @theskellylife (IG) & Vernon Jordan, III @vernonjordaniii (IG)

Sweetie is a magical realism/coming-of-age short film about unlikely warriors who protect children’s innocence as they are forced to grow up. The film follows MISTY, a wingless tooth fairy who picks up an extra shift on Christmas Eve and KAREN, a shy 10 year old, who still believes in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, Misty collects Karen’s baby tooth and finds Karen is awake and horrified, after getting her first period. Too flustered to tell her mother and determined to stay quiet so Santa doesn’t know she’s awake, Karen asks Misty to help her.

The short explores themes of sexual health, mental health, Black girlhood and womanhood.

I came up with the concept for Sweetie, while reflecting on my own, bewildering first period experience. As I have gotten older, I realized that a lot of people are unaware of how young kids can be when they first get their periods. If people were aware of the innocence of kids at menstruation age, their politics would shift and they would be illuminated with a new found understanding of reproductive health.- Christl Stringer

Christl Stringer is an artist, writer, and director from New Jersey. Her films and scripts have been accepted into NFFTY, Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, and New Haven International Film Festival. Her visual work has been featured in galleries across the East coast. Sweetie is her seventh short film.