My First Native American Boyfriend
2021 · 5m · USA
Directed by Joey Clift
Genres: comedy, romance, satire
Tones: absurdist, darkly comic, humorous
After a few months of dating Johnny — her first Native American boyfriend — Emily seizes the opportunity to apologize for every microaggression she has ever committed against Native Americans, with cringe-inducing results.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Here's a rom-com that uses the machinery of the genre — the escalation, the beats, the inevitable resolution — to detonate the whole apparatus from inside; it's the kind of subversive premise that makes you wince and laugh at the same time, which is exactly where the best genre-bending lives.
Clift demonstrates formal command by weaponizing the rom-com's own architecture against its audience, situating satire within a lineage of romantic comedy while maintaining the precision that separates clever deconstruction from mere snark.
The masterstroke is the apology escalation itself—that structuring choice transforms what could be a one-note sketch into something that builds unbearably, and it's all held together by how Clift times the beats, letting each cringe moment land before the next one arrives.
Reviews
Diverse representation on screen can only strengthen our society, which is why this film is so valuable.
Festivals
- Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival 2021, Best Native American / Indigenous Short
- Micromania Film Fest 2022, Best Micro Narrative
- Tonkawa Film Festival 2022, Best Native American Short
- LA Skins Fest 2022