Billed as “a coming-of-age story created by and for Generation Z,” EGGHEAD & TWINKIE signals a new era of active audience support as it became the first feature film to successfully crowdfund on TikTok.
When the film screens at the Cleveland International Film Festival on March 29, moviegoers will ride shotgun on a delightful and unforgettable road trip adventure exploring sexuality, racial identity and the very meaning of friendship.
Making the film pop off the screen, quirky and charming animations punctuate the action of the movie, endearing us even more to the already endearing main characters of Egghead and Twinkie. Adding some homegrown flare, those animations were created right here in Ohio, memorably drawn by Cleveland-based LGBTQ+ animators Jill Cefalo-Sanders and Dustin Wisch.
To learn more about everyone’s new BFF’s Egghead and Twinkie, The Buckeye Flame spoke with filmmaker Sarah Kambe Holland about her experiences making her debut feature film, her take on the power of representation, and why we all need to call our friends straightaway to tell them that we love them.
The Buckeye Flame: I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this film before. How would you describe it visually?
Sarah Kambe Holland: Visually I would say it’s very colorful, both with the color grade and the production design elements that we had. But also with the 2D animation which was from our local animators in Cleveland, Jill and Dustin. I’d say it’s just a colorful, fun, cartoonish movie.
So I am Generation X. Am I even allowed to like a film made by and for Generation Z?
[laughs] Absolutely. We like to market this movie as “Made by Gen Z for Gen Z” because I just barely made the cut-off for Gen Z. It was made by a lot of young people, a lot of students that were in film school at the time or recent alumni.
With that said, I think it’s a movie that’s not just for young people. I’ve been kind of blown away by the responses I have gotten from older generations to this movie. Especially parents who have teen children, which has been really great. This is a movie that can open up a dialogue between older generations and younger generations.
From you starting to shoot the short film to releasing this feature film, we’re talking 6 years to where we are now?
The short film itself was filmed in 2018 and released in 2019. So it’s been five years since filming the short. But I did come up with the concept for the short before that, so it’s been six years since I originally came up with the idea and the characters of Egghead and Twinkie.
Given that years-long journey, what does this film has to say to audiences now in 2023?
I think there’s a lot of darkness in the world right now, post-pandemic. A lot of people have been on hard times and now we’re entering a recession.
I think this movie is that ray of sunshine that can be a form of escapism for a lot of people, just for 87 minutes, to kind of be taken along on this joyful road trip with these two lovable characters.
At the same time, I do think there is an important message behind it, which is one of acceptance and learning to accept people who are different than you, for being there for your friends, for loving your friends as they truly are. That’s a timeless message that is relevant in any time period.
There’s so much tension in the movie between the identity we’re searching for and the identity others are placing on us, not just with sexual orientation, but also with race. What have you learned about identity in making this film?
That’s a great question. Identity is definitely one of the central themes of the film, particularly for Twinkie because she starts off really strong at the beginning of the movie. She says, “I’m a raging homosexual.” She knows who she is and she needs everybody in her life to get on board. In terms of her gayness, she’s actually very sure of herself, which was something I was excited about, excited to have a character who was strong in her sexual orientation.
That being said, we do see some of that insecurity with her racial identity as a mixed-Asian adoptee. We touch on that only briefly in the film, but it was something that was really important to both me and the actress who plays Twinkie, Sabrina Jie-A-Fa, to include that element of racial identity as well.
Identity is so complex. There are multiple layers. Maybe there’s a part of you that you’re really comfortable with and another part that you’re not as comfortable with. It’s a journey that takes time and that’s something we wanted portray in the film.
Even though anyone can watch and enjoy this film, how critical was it to highlight the importance of youth voices?
That’s something I take very seriously, especially since so many of us who worked on the film were young, up-and-coming filmmakers.
I think it’s important for young people to be able to tell our own stories, especially since coming-of-age has changed so dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years with the advent of social media.
I find oftentimes when I would watch coming-of-age movies, I would be like, “Wow, none of these people sound like my friends.” The dialogue is off. The use of social media is off.
We wanted EGGHEAD & TWINKIE to accurately reflect what the experience is like to be a young person in 2023.
The lights go up on the theatre at the Cleveland International Film Festival, everyone applauds and starts to file out of the theater. What do you want people to leave thinking?
This movie tackles a lot, but I really think that the core message is one of friendship. I really hope that people leave the theater feeling warm inside and more optimistic about their relationships. I hope that people know that they should be friends with people who accept them exactly as they are. That’s really the journey that Egghead goes on, learning to love Twinkie as the person she is.
I called my friends to tell them that I loved them after I finished watching the movie.
[laughs] Oh my gosh. That’s amazing. I love that. I want more of that. That sounds great. 🔥
Ignite Action:
- EGGHEAD & TWINKIE will stream at the Cleveland International Film Festival at 4:55pm on March 29. It will be available to stream from April 2 to April 9. To learn more (and buy tickets!) go here.
The Buckeye Flame is a media sponsor of the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Know an LGBTQ+ Ohio story we should cover? TELL US!
Submit a story!
