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Logline

When a documentary on competitive speed puzzlers resonates with a film director, a quirky hobby becomes a tool for mental health and conversations around it.

Synopsis

Puzzling popularity has exploded, with sales increasing 300% during the pandemic. Within that growing community is a subset of enthusiasts who take their hobby to the extreme: the speed puzzler. We were drawn to this small, but growing community because of its quirky members, the colorful puzzles they solve in an unthinkably quick time, and their general joyfulness.

As we dug deeper, we discovered that there was some commonality between the puzzlers and us as the filmmakers. Many puzzlers talked about how they found puzzling after a serious mental health crisis or how they use puzzles as a way to manage their anxiety.

What started out as an exploration of a unique community soon inspired the director to go on a personal journey of her own as she not only examines the puzzle community, but rather the puzzle of the way she’s wired.

Our ensemble cast aims to highlight where everyone “fits” in the community. We’ll highlight unlikely friends, people who picked up puzzling to help with their anxiety/depression, and people who stopped being good at speed puzzling so that they could enjoy the hobby more.

Though the film starts with Emily chasing an “ideal” version of herself, when she gets an official Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, she realizes that her previous neurotypical ideal is unachievable. In order to become her best self, she’ll unpack what this diagnosis means for her own mental health journey.

Through connecting with fellow puzzlers Emily and our audience ultimately begin to understand what it means to embrace who you are and the struggles you have. We want to make a film that offers humor, joy, and a little whimsy.

This is a film that reminds us the missing piece is often self-acceptance and finding friends that cheer for you even if you don’t win.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Emily Sheskin – Director
Emily Sheskin is an award winning film and commercial director. Her work has been featured in numerous publications such as (but not limited to) The New York Times, National Geographic, and The Atlantic.

As a commercial director for over 10 years, Emily has directed for many well- known clients such as Microsoft and Disney. She’s created short documentary content for Netflix, and brings a commercial level of polish to all her short film work, such as Girl Boxer which premiered as a New York Times OpDoc in 2017.

Her first feature film, JessZilla, premiered in 2023 at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival where it was in competition. From there, the film has won awards at the Fargo Film Festival, Rhode Island Film Festival, Ridgefield Film Festival, and the Atlanta Film Festival. She is currently working with Versus NY to find a home for it as it continues to be programmed in festivals such as IDFA, DOC NYC, and more. She holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a member of New York Women in Film & Television, Film Fatales, and IFP.

Ben Kainz – Producer
Ben Kainz is the producing partner of Emily Sheskin and together they’ve created award-winning short films, feature documentaries, and commercials. Ben’s latest project is the documentary feature, JessZilla, which premiered at Big Sky Film Festival. It won Best Picture and Best Documentary Feature at the Fargo Film Festival and Special Jury Mention at the Atlanta Film Festival. Prior to that, Ben was an associate producer on the feature film OVUM, directed by Matt Ott. OVUM premiered at the Big Apple Film Festival where it won Best Feature Film. Ben is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance, Film Independent, and Variable.

Joe Victorine – Director of Photography
Joe has had the privilege to work for some of the most notable personalities, brands, companies and organizations including Miguel, Gigi Hadid, Toyota, Vogue, Rivian, Budweiser, and more.
His recent work as a DP includes the documentary western My Heroes Were Cowboys for Netflix. His additional camera credits include camera operating on the hit documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, and the 2014 Oscar winning 20 Feet from Stardom, as well DPing the feature length film Bookers Place: a Mississippi Story which screened at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival and received rave reviews from the New York Times and Variety.

Katie Turinski – Editor
Katie Turinski is an award-winning filmmaker based in New York City. For nearly 20 years her work has spanned multiple industries, with editing credits including the Oscars® Shortlisted Netflix Original The Speed Cubers, multiple Super Bowl commercial campaigns, and the award-winning documentary feature JessZilla.

Her documentary work varies in subject matter, but shares common themes including inclusivity, courage, acceptance, and humor. She served on AICP’s Curatorial Committee for the 2019 and 2021 awards shows, selecting commercials to be preserved in the MoMA Department of Film’s permanent archives. She is a featured editor on Free The Work, and was a Contributing Editor for the 2015 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.