Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. Donate today and help bring Vanilla to life.

Logline

On the day of her friend’s engagement party, Angie, an Asian-American woman, unearths her chilling preference for white men. She finds herself trapped by her friends’ equally shared preference and by her inability to escape her own attraction.

Synopsis

Angie starts the day of her friend’s engagement party at brunch with two of her friends. As she waits for her friends to show up, she mindlessly swipes through Tinder, subconsciously only swiping right on white men. Her friends arrive and they discuss the upcoming nuptials. Her friends are eager to set her up with an eligible bachelor at the party. Throughout the day she encounters subliminally bizarre occurrences, which bring her attention to ways her life is inextricably intertwined with colonial mindsets. Angie arrives at her friend’s engagement party and is confronted with the drastic measures her fellow Asian American friends are willing to undergo to relinquish their identity. The horror sets in and Angie makes a run for it — literally. After escaping the party, she encounters two men who challenge her beliefs on attraction — leaving her trapped in the cycle of her own complicity with no immediate escape.

Make a donation to Vanilla.

Meet the Filmmakers

Alisha Bhowmik – Director/Co-Writer

Alisha Bhowmik is a multi-racial filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA. in acting, where she studied at the Atlantic Acting School. She has produced and directed short films & music videos that have premiered or been featured in Huffington Post, Refinery29, NYLON and PAPER magazine. Her short documentary Dot & A Feather was the first Sundance Collab Challenge winner. Disaster Panties, a short film she collaborated with Amanda, screened at AAIFF 2021 and Cucalorus 2021. She recently produced indie SAG feature Dead End from directors Abigail Horton & Ryan Dickie. She is a member of A-Doc, Kalakars, Filmshop, and Brown Girl Doc Mafia. She currently works as an Associate Producer at renowned advertising agency Droga5 (clients: Chase, CBRE). Her favorite fruit is guava. alishabhowmik.com

Amanda Centeno – Co-Writer/Producer

Amanda Centeno is a New York City based actress and creative. She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch, where she
studied at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and the Experimental Theatre Wing. She wrote, produced and acted in the short film Disaster Panties, which she collaborated with Alisha, and screened at AAIFF 2021, Cucalorus 2021 and was featured on Film Shortage. She is a former Bat at The Flea Theater and former student of Anthony Abeson. She has performed Off-Broadway with Pan Asian Rep, regionally with Berkshire Theatre Group via their Apprentice Program, and in other theater spaces, including Ars Nova, Feinstein’s 54 Below, le poisson rouge, A.R.T New York, The Lark, The Flea Theater, The Tank, and Dixon Place.. Her favorite restaurant is McDonald’s. amandacenteno.com

Yuki M. Ledbetter – Producer

Yuki Ledbetter is an independent producer based in Brooklyn, New York by way of Sapporo, Japan who has worked on wide variety of award winning narrative films, music videos, and branded content. She worked as associate producer and post production supervisor the feature film, Alieu the Dreamer (2019), for BET Films and Paramount Pictures. She was also a producer for The Black Disquisition (2021), an animated short film that has screened in over 16 domestic and international festivals, winning two awards for Best Narrative Short Film, one for Best Director, and has exhibited in Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, WA. In 2020 she co-founded her production company ML-NEBULA with an intent focus on creating a safe and open environment for underrepresented filmmakers to thrive.

Maya Tanaka – Consulting Producer

Maya Tanaka is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker originally from the Bay Area, based in Brooklyn, NY. Her films have screened at TIFF, Chicago Film Festival, Cucalorus, New Orleans Film Festival, TIDE Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, and more. Her film Honolulu won the 2021 Tribeca Through Her Lens program & grant.

Jalena Keane-Lee – Consulting Producer

Jalena Keane-Lee is a filmmaker who explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens. She produced Rest Stop, a short film that premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2022 and won Best Short Film at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Her short film, Standing Above the Clouds, screened at over 40 film festivals, won best short documentary at LA Asian Pacific Film Festival and Special Jury Mention from the Center for Asian American Media, streamed on the Criterion Collection, and broadcast on POV. Jalena co-founded Breaktide Productions, an all women of color production company that has won two Cannes Lion awards for branded content. She’s produced commercial series for Nike and Facebook, and won Tribeca Through Her Lens 2020.

Make a donation to Vanilla.

Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.