Filmmaker: Ellie Wen
Runtime: 21 min
Synopsis: The Missfits follows an all-girls robotics team based in San Francisco that is taking on the male-dominated field of engineering. They are determined to show other girls how fun and rewarding STEM can be, one robot at a time. The documentary follows The Missfits as they confront growing pains, build their robot, and travel to competitions. The diverse team is made up of twenty girls from high schools around the Bay Area ranging in age from fifteen to eighteen and coming from a variety of backgrounds. On their own, they are outsiders, misfits. But together, on the team, they build each other up and learn to embrace their own identities.
About the Filmmaker
Ellie Wen is an award-winning filmmaker from Hong Kong and Los Angeles. She began her career in Los Angeles where she produced independent films and worked at CAA, CBS Films, and Super Deluxe. Ellie is an alumna of Film Independent’s Project Involve fellowship program.
Her first short documentary “Single Mother Only Daughter” premiered on Short of the Week and is a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her short documentary series “Doing Good Business” was acquired by Participant Media’s SoulPancake.
Ellie recently received her MFA in Documentary Film from Stanford University where she produced four short documentary films. “Share,” has screened at DOC NYC, Frameline, Big Sky, DOK Leipzig, Outfest, CAAMFest, and was released on The Guardian. For her film “On Mother’s Day,” Ellie was named Best Local Filmmaker at the UN Women Global Voices Film Festival. Her film “25 Hours” was a finalist in the WrapWomen and Starz film contest and was distributed on Starz TV and digital. During her final year in the MFA program, Ellie was awarded the UFVA Carole Fielding Student Grant for her thesis film, “The Missfits.”
She now lives in San Francisco and is developing her next documentary as a resident in the SFFILM FilmHouse Residency Program.