After a wildly successful run on the festival circuit, the award-winning short film “Maggie’s Not Okay” is available on the prestigious YouTube channel Omeleto.
Written by and starring Mouzam Makkar (“Law and Order SVU” and other roles), the film marks the film directing debut of Vance Smith, former Artistic Director of Chicago’s Stage Left Theatre and producer of other award-winning shorts such as “Each Lovely Thing,” “Émigré Americana” and “Huge.”
The story centers on a chronic people-pleaser named Maggie who is always getting pushed around. But when she tries to return a lost cat to its owner, Maggie is finally pushed too far and decides to push back… in a most unexpected way.
Makkar explains, “Before it was a personality trait, people-pleasing was survival—wired into the ancient human psyche so we wouldn’t be abandoned by our tribe. ‘Maggie’s Not Okay’ traces that instinct into the present, where it still quietly governs our behavior—especially for women conditioned to be polite, quiet and accommodating. The film asks what happens when that wiring finally short-circuits.”
The issue of representation is important to the filmmakers. “Maggie’s Not Okay” resists the expectation that BIPOC stories must center on identity, instead telling a universal story that honors the richness of BIPOC experiences while allowing its characters to be defined by their humanity first—their joy, messiness, struggle and growth—all while making you laugh.
The film also features Behzad Dabu (“How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Chi”); Paloma Nozicka (“The Irrational”) and Clare Cooney (“Chicago Med”), who also edited the project.
This core group all met working in the Chicago Theatre scene and brought the collaborative ensemble aesthetic Chicago is famous for to the project. According to director Vance Smith, “This is a group of artists that starts off with a shared language and a shared experience.”
“Maggie’s Not Okay” has screened at 22 festivals, five of which are Academy Award-Qualifying. It has won five awards; two for Best Comedy, two for Best Actress and one for Best of the Fest—and was nominated for many others.
Although a short film available on YouTube, “Maggie’s Not Okay” reminds me so much of the title of a current Oscar-worthy film called “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You.” That title suggests that if the main character in that film had legs, she would be kicking and screaming and knocking down doors to get help for her arduous situation.
However, in the Omeleto film, Maggie is brave enough to reclaim her power and thumbs her nose at those who were trying to take advantage of her.
Omeleto is a highly selective YouTube channel that curates powerful, emotionally resonant, and visually striking short films and has almost 4 million subscribers. From their submission page: “Omeleto is not a festival. It is a mark of arrival, a distinction reserved for the next generation of cinematic visionaries. Each month, no more than 20 films worldwide are chosen. Selection is rare. Standards are uncompromising. To be featured is to be recognized as a filmmaker to watch.”
The channel showcases exceptional short films from emerging global talent, acting as a launchpad for filmmakers to gain exposure, with strict curation for artistic quality, diverse stories, and production standards, featuring award-winning narratives, comedies, and animations.
I received a press release about the above film, but I searched around and found on the site another sweet film called “Mahalia Melts in the Rain,” directed by Emilie Mannering and Carmine Pierre-Dufour.
This film follows Mahalia, a timid nine-year-old Black girl who feels different from her ballet classmates. Her mother takes her to a hair salon to get her hair straightened for the first time, in an attempt to boost her confidence. Starring Kaiyonni Banton-Renner as Mahalia, the film shows the angst of a mother who feels that her daughter’s hair isn’t suitable to be captured in a photo in its natural, curly state.
As Mahalia waits for her turn at the photo shoot, she and two white girls go outside while it’s raining. Now earlier one of the girls had told Mahalia that her hair felt like a sponge.
But Mahalia was mindful to not play in the rain—even though she had never had a relaxer. She knew that getting her hair wet would yield disastrous consequences.
Check out Omeleto via YouTube for these and other fantastic short films.