Jessie Auritt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in New York City. Her short film, THE BIRDMAN, screened at festivals around the country and received multiple awards, including the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize for Short Documentary in 2013. In addition to independent filmmaking, she has shot, edited, directed, and produced videos for UNICEF, IFC.com, the New York Daily News, and many other companies and nonprofit organizations. Jessie is an alumnus of the IFP Documentary Lab and a member of the women’s filmmaker group, Film Fatales. SUPERGIRL is Jessie’s debut as a feature film director.
About the Film
Film: Supergirl
Filmmaker: Jessie Auritt
Runtime: 80 minutes
Synopsis:
When a nine-year-old girl breaks a powerlifting world record, she turns into an international phenomenon and “Supergirl” is born. Naomi Kutin seems like a typical Orthodox Jewish pre-teen, until her extraordinary talent transforms the lives of her family and thrusts her into news headlines. SUPERGIRL follows Naomi’s unique coming-of-age story as she fights to hold on to her title while navigating the perils of adolescence—from strict religious obligations to cyber-bullying, and health issues which could jeopardize her future in powerlifting. Can she still be “Supergirl” if she can no longer break world records? With a passionate family supporting her each step of the way, Naomi must learn to accept herself and discover she is as strong inside as she is outside.