Quaker
2025 · 16m · USA
Directed by Giovanna Molina
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, provocative, tender
Brooklyn high school seniors gather for their final Quaker meeting of the year; when one student confesses she has never felt connected to her classmates, the seemingly routine gathering takes an abrupt and charged turn.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Molina's formal instinct — marshalling institutional ritual as the crucible for adolescent self-disclosure — recalls the rigorous economy of the best short fiction, and the Berlinale Generation selection confirms it belongs in serious company.
Berlinale 2025 World Premiere, Bend Film Festival Best Narrative Short. Sixteen minutes. Brooklyn Quaker meeting, enforced silence as confessional pressure cooker. The premise is specific and the festival placement is real. The mid-budget American teen drama short is its own genre — Molina seems to be doing it right.
Berlinale world premiere using the Quaker meeting's enforced silence as a pressure cooker for adolescent authenticity — that's a specific cultural ritual most teen films don't even know exists. Smart structural device.
Reviews
Giovanna Molina's previous short, 'Hickey,' is a masterpiece, and this equally provocative work further affirms her status as one of the most exciting talents working in film today.
Festivals
- Berlin International Film Festival 2025
- Bend Film Festival 2025, Best Narrative Short
- Indy Shorts International Film Festival 2025
- Catalina Film Festival 2025
- Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival 2025
- Film Independent Artist Development Showcase 2025