Special Screening / USA / 2025 / English / 90 min / Drama, Male Anorexia
Director: Writer: Brandon Shenk; Producer: Yining Xu; Key cast: Jackson Kelly, Richard Gunn, Angelina Lewis and John Paul Kakos
Contact: sirin.bshenk@gmail.com
Gray, the younger son in a lower middle-class religious family, strives for some semblance of control against the letdowns and pressures from family, friends and adolescence. Gray feels increasingly disillusioned and deceived, which compels him to deeper forms of self-hatred. Desperate to make peace with himself and his family, he has to find a way to overcome his personal afflictions.
SPECIAL GUESTS: Brandon Shenk, Jackson Kelly, Richard Gunn, Angelina Lewis and John Paul Kakos
Director Biography
Brandon Shenk wants to explore and develop narrative stories that push the boundaries of contemporary cinema and challenge audience members to wrestle with tough, multi-layered dilemmas and questions. He received his master’s in film production from Florida State University, and his bachelor’s from University of Florida, graduating summa cum laude in English and Mass Communications with a creative writing thesis. Currently he serves as a part-time lecturer in cinema studies and production at the University of Florida, as he submits his second feature script – a horror comedy – to festivals.
Director Statement
As a filmmaker, I wish to tell stories with tough multi-layered characters and primal problems, where the struggle to express love for others and for oneself takes center stage.
‘Portrait of a Young Man’ is modeled after my own story, and is greatly inspired and dedicated to my mom, who was a central figure in helping me overcome. The story highlights a lower middle-class family who strives to heal past wounds and nurture future hope. It demonstrates the complications when silence is preferred over open sharing within the family. And it explores how religious beliefs can be a beautiful thing, while also possibly at times serving to stunt one’s growth when internalized in an unhealthy way.
The basic action is twofold: Gray (Grayson Johnson) struggles with identity descending into mental sickness and an eating disorder, while his parents, Trisha and James (an ex-pastor), attempt to revive their marriage after an infidelity. They do all they can to keep the family afloat and instill Christian values in their boys; however, the way Gray processes his diminishing faith only intensifies his internal and external conflicts. At the crossroads of parental, peer and spiritual influences, Gray has to learn to navigate his own life path.
While Portrait of a Young Man is a small domestic slice-of-life, it’s meant for an audience with a big heart. There’s no religious creed or message I wish to side with other than the importance of compassion and love for all – especially one’s own self.
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