The Purple List 2021
Inspired by the Hollywood Black List, NYU Grad Film presents The Purple List: the top production ready feature screenplays written by students or recent alums of the Grad Film Program.
As determined by our faculty and voted on by an outside panel of industry professionals.
Purple List coordinator 2021: Miss Clara Dubau
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EL CUENTO DE LA BALLENA / THE STORY OF THE WHALE by Adrian Cardenas
Drama
After a down-on-his-luck fisherman nets a humpback whale, he works to cement his newfound popularity by storing the enormous skeleton inside his remote town’s tiny museum, but a fastapproaching hurricane threatens the preservation of this rare event and challenges his place within his community.
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IN THE LAND OF BROTHERS by Raha AmirfazliSocial Drama
Iran, from 1992 to 2021: Four Afghan refugee families struggle through their daily lives; fighting an internalized terror of being an outsider, an external ignorant force, and the gloom of not belonging.
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STAMPEDE by Sontenish Myers
SCI FI / PERIOD
On a southern plantation in the 1800s, Lena is an 11-year-old slave with telekinetic abilities she cannot yet control. When she is separated from her mother and moved into close quarters with the volatile Master’s wife, Lena must grapple with the danger of her gift as well as its potential power.
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THE LEFTOVER LADIES by Farida Zahran
Comedy
A stubbornly independent 60-something is forced to confront her complex marriage with her polygamous husband when he moves back after decades abroad. As her husband works to reignite their connection, she seeks refuge at the country club and is unexpectedly initiated into a group of vivacious women who not only help reassess her relationship but her sense of self. The film is an off-beat comedy set in present day Cairo.
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ZOE by Juan Pablo Daranas Molina
Drama
The lives of a Cuban woman and her young daughter take a radical turn after they become political refugees in the United States. Over the course of the next thirty years, their relationship will be tested as they struggle to forge a path for themselves in their adopted country.
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