USA / 2024 / 112 min / English / Political Drama
A tenacious defense attorney (Audrey Allen) embarks on a high stakes campaign to beat the incumbent mayor of Oakland. As election day approaches, Audrey must reconcile the seduction of the political game with her own moral compass or risk losing it all.
This is a film about choices.
DIRECTOR: One of Variety Magazine’s ‘Top 10 Directors to Watch’, Emily has directed six feature films – two narratives and four documentaries. Known for her commitment to social issue filmmaking, she is able to take on delicate subject matter with skill and diplomacy. Emily is also a seasoned documentary cinematographer and branded content director who has created films for clients such as 23andMe, Microsoft, Janssen, Pfizer and Oracle.
Abt’s first feature “Toe to Toe” was nominated for the Grand Jury Award at Sundance and released by Strand. “Thirsty” won the Athena Award for scripts featuring outstanding female protagonists and was filmed this past winter in Oakland.
Abt’s first doc “Take It From Me” (PBS’s POV series) was created when she was a 23 year-old caseworker in New York City. She then went on to receive her MFA in film directing from Columbia University and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to make her thesis film. Abt’s other feature docs include “All Of Us” (Showtime’s 2008 World AIDs Day film) and “Daddy Don’t Go”. The film won eight “Best Doc” awards. In 2018 Abt was tapped by Showtime to direct the documentary “Beyond the Opposite Sex” about two transgender people living in rural America.
In 2020 Abt was hired by “Sorry to Bother You” producer George Rush to co-write the feature comedy “Unborn”. From 2020-2021 Abt served as a Consulting Producer on the Amazon Studios and Emmy award-winning documentary “Wildcat” and is currently Executive Producing the forthcoming feature documentaries “Tribal Strands” and “Transcending”. She is also currently developing a Berkeley based episodic series entitled “Pureland”.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT: Audrey Allen, is a woman who is deeply torn between career and family, as she strives to become the Mayor of Oakland. Our story is a deeply timely one given that America may soon have its first woman president in Kamala Harris. Many pundits are now saying that she will likely step up to replace Biden soon and then will go toe to toe with Trump for a tight but ultimately triumphant campaign. So THIRSTY has truly captured the zeitgeist of the moment when we are on the cusp of a potentially seismic shift and collectively fascinated with the women politicians who are making it happen. (written May 2024)
Contact: emily@purelandpictures.com
Special Guests: Emily Abt
Sponsored by: Ken Evans
