TONI WITH AN I | Omeleto

From the creator

A young girl is bullied. Thirteen-year-old Toni is an oddball having a tough time at her school. In the classrooms and hallways, she's quiet, shy and introverted, and a prime target for the other students. But Toni has an outlet: she has her own channel on YouTube, where she dresses up and lip-syncs to her favorite songs. Her performances and videos reflect an unbridled sense of joy and vivacity, and she interacts with her viewers with infectious friendliness. When she has to pull together a presentation for class, she sees an opportunity for her worlds to come together. That presentation, though, is tweeted by one of her more malicious classmates, who comments on its "cringiness." Toni is at first humiliated in the very space where she finds self-expression and freedom. But then the Internet comes to the rescue, embracing Toni's positive spirit and sharing it farther than she ever could have imagined. Writer-director Marco Alessi, along with writer Mary Antony, have crafted a stylish, sweetly engaging dramatic short that evokes the almost utopian promise of the early Internet, reminding us of its ability to connect, inspire and validate unique voices and self-expression. As fitting to a story about the Internet, the film is conversant with the visual lingua franca of online life, such as video filters and how they subtly shift our perception and imagination. And certainly, the storytelling has the brisk movement and pacing demanded by the mobile and social media where

Published 2020-05-29 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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