In 2019, Asian American writer-director Sarah Kambe Holland’s short film, Egghead & Twinkie, won Best Film and Best Director from the Women Making a Scene International Film Project, along with a production grant to produce the concept as a full-length feature. The feature film then was selected to screen at multiple film festivals, and in Austin, TX, Egghead & Twinkie won the 2023 Austin Film Festival (AFF) Comedy Vanguard Feature award. It is a great comedy/road trip feature film that I enjoyed viewing on the big screen at the festival with great cinematography by Olivia Wilson and vibrant animation by Animator Dillon Cefalo that is used so well to tell the story. It will be a great experience to view it, no matter what screen size you have at your disposal.
The information from the distributor is a good description of Holland’s autobiographical debut feature: she “slyly weaves an exuberant visual and anime aesthetic into a romantic queer coming-out comedy set amidst a road trip through Texas.” Writer/director Holland added, “Twinkie is the protagonist that I needed when I was growing up as a queer mixed-Asian kid in Texas, and I want the audience to see the world through her eyes.”
About the coming-out inspiration for the film, she added: “I first came up with the concept for Egghead & Twinkie when I was fresh out of the closet at nineteen years old. It’s a terrifying moment when you have to sit across from your parents and the important people in your life and tell them who you are, especially at such a young age. But at the same time, there can be so much joy and awkward humor in finding yourself and sharing that with the world. This film is my earnest attempt to find the comedy in the coming out process without trivializing the struggles that queer people endure to be themselves.”
Twinkie (Sabrina Jie-a-fa) has finished high school in Florida and is ready for the summer. Her best friend since childhood, Egghead (Louis Tomeo), lives next door. They do almost everything together, but she has no romantic intentions with him as she accepts that she is lesbian. She has an online crush on Instagram, BD (Ayden Lee), who lives in Texas.
When Egghead expresses an interest, she decides to tell him and her parents about herself. The reactions are all different and Twinkie does not feel supported by her parents at the time. She decides to pack a bag, then convinces Egghead to drive her to Texas, failing to mention the trip to her parents, using their car and who she anticipates meeting there.
Jie-a-fa and Tomeo are great actors who have such natural chemistry together. Their performance is so natural, they authentically appear to be best friends.
Egghead & Twinkie set records as the first feature film to successfully fundraise through TikTok and premiered in 2023. The festival screenings included London’s BFI Flare Festival, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Next Wave, Seattle Int’l Film Fest, Outfest LA, Frameline, Reeling Chicago, Out on Film, and the Austin Film Festival.
2023 | USA | 87 min | Color | Narrative Comedy
2025 Digital Release Available on Demand April 29 (U.S. & Canada)
Source: Distributor- Tribeca Films
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