A Bird Hit My Window and Now I'm a Lesbian (2025)

After a mysterious stranger shows up at Gray's doorstep holding the corpse of a dead bird, an impromptu funeral changes the way Gray views herself and her lesbian identity.

Directors- Carmela Murphy, AJ Dubler

Directors - Carmela Murphy, AJ Dubler

Director Biography - Carmela Murphy, AJ Dubler

Carmela is a filmmaker and artist specializing in stop motion animation, fabrication, and screenwriting. She explores narrative storytelling, intertwining intimacy with

the absurd. Carmela is devoted to uplifting queer voices and experiences, creating film and art that amplifies empathy. She absolutely adores the weird and the wonderful and takes puppets quite seriously.

AJ Dubler is a filmmaker from Denver, Colorado. They graduated with distinction from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2024 where they studied animation. AJ is a jack-of-all-trades writer, director, animator, and storyboard artist, specializing in stop motion animation. They hope to continue their work telling funny, dramatic, hand-crafted stories.

Director Statement

"A Bird Hit My Window and Now I'm a Lesbian" is our debut short film. The ultimate message of the film is the rejection of the desire for male validation. For many women and femme people, male desire and attention acts as a social currency. Many women rely on this desire for validation as well as self and social worth. Realizing one's lesbian identity forces one to acknowledge and process this. Coming out often means a rejection and mourning of this previous life. When a bird hits a window, it is generally a male bird seeing his reflection and believing it is a rival attempting to usurp his territory or his women. He flies into the window to destroy his rival. In this case, his rival is femme queerness. In a male-dominated heteronormative world, it is the death of the bird that acts as the catalyst to the film.

We structure the film into three parts. Act one is the rejection of the desire for male attention. Act two is the intimacy and intensity of one's first lesbian relationship. Act three is acceptance.

Our film uses humor intertwined with vulnerability to tell a unique story of love and grief for oneself.

Please tell us your motivation for making your film:

When a bird hits a window, it is generally a male bird seeing his reflection and believing it is a rival attempting to usurp his territory or his women. He flies into the window to destroy his rival. In this case, his rival is lesbianism. In a male-dominated heteronormative world, it is the death of the bird that acts as the catalyst to the film. We structure the film into three parts. Act one is the rejection of the desire for male attention. Act two is the intimacy and intensity of one's first lesbian relationship. Act three is acceptance. Our film uses humor intertwined with vulnerability to tell a unique story of love and grief for oneself.

What are the themes and central messages you wanted to convey with your submission?:

The ultimate message of the film is the rejection of the desire for male validation, and the emotional complexity of one's first queer relationship. For many women and femme people, male desire and attention acts as a social currency. Many women rely on this desire for validation as well as self and social worth. Realizing one's lesbian identity forces one