Today we’d like to introduce you to Liat Benezra and Shianne Yang.
Liat and Shianne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We met in the vibrant halls of the sublevel at CalArts. It was the first day of our first year in college. Neither one of us knew anyone else, and we were so painfully awkward when it came to making friends. Yet somehow we managed to say our first hello’s- and the rest is history.
Since that day, we’ve done everything together- literally. From homework assignments to grocery shopping to getting a puppy. Everyone knows us as a duo, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. What brought us together was the similarities in our childhood. Liat was born in Chicago, Illinois to two immigrant parents. Her mother is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her father from Jerusalem, Israel. Shianne was born in Kansas to Taiwanese parents.
We both are first-generation Americans, and with that, carry the responsibility of representing our heritage and upbringings, while still attempting to assimilate to American society and pursue the sought after “American Dream”. Both of our parents got divorced when we were very young, making us the tough yet vulnerable, independent women we are today.
We’ve lived through our lowest moments and happiest days together. We’ve shared our worst memories, our struggles with mental illness, family trauma, and hopes and dreams. And from all of these stories and experiences, came our biggest accomplishment yet- “Lisa and Liza”.
Has it been a smooth road?
All roads have potholes, but we like to think that those only make us faster and that much stronger. Neither one of us had easy childhoods, but we are grateful for all the love we had from our parents. Growing up in broken homes takes a toll on your life relationships, but we believe our friendship has healed us so much and made us so much more open and capable to giving and receiving love.
But we grew, and we thrived- and that’s all that matters.
Today, we are in the process of making a feature film called “Lisa and Liza”. Being young, female filmmakers comes with it’s hardships. We have been questioned and belittled constantly by the people we hoped to get support from the most. One of the biggest challenges this project brings is inherent to creating art as a young woman. It is rather difficult convincing people to take you seriously when they see you as littler than them. But that is just part of the process in overcoming the patriarchy, right ladies? Being that this is an educational experience, we will have many obstacles and opportunities to learn from and grow from. But we take our art and ourselves seriously- and hope all will too. We are learning to not let anyone’s doubts or judgements slow us down. Those who don’t believe in us simply motivate us to work that much harder.
What else should we know?
“Lisa and Liza” follows the lives of two best friends in their early twenties, and their precious pup, as they aimlessly stumble through everyday LA life with one another. It’s all fun, drugs, and games until Liza decides to follow one of her many boyfriends to Russia, and the girls have to figure out how to survive without one another. During their last couple of weeks together, they become the closest they’ve ever been. They learn about each other’s struggles; including mental illness, unhealthy codependency with one another, and unrealistic expectations of the men in their lives. But they also learn how strong, capable, and intelligent their best friend is. Better together, but still amazing alone.
In the isolating world, we live in, where we are all hiding behind screens, it’s easy to forget how important having a real friend is. Especially when there is always security in numbers, being a minority in gender and race. Women are rarely given the opportunity to speak their truth, and often this truth is universal and much needed. We are these women, and so are our mothers, sisters, and friends. It’s time for a new era: the one in which women everywhere are not only heard but understood. We want to change cinema, by introducing a hybridized genre of experimental art film, realism, absurdist comedy, stoner film, and so much more. We are narrative filmmakers who refuse to stay within the box. Join us on our journey as we introduce confident, vulnerable, absurd, and real women: “Lisa and Liza”.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
We hope that “Lisa and Liza” will be the first big step into our careers as filmmakers, as well as kickstart a revolution of strong, unapologetic women! We both are graduating from California Institute of the Arts with BFA’s in Film and Video this coming May. After a summer of traveling and family time, we are going to jump right into our careers as independent filmmakers. We plan to continue writing, directing, and producing more films about women, friendship, and love together. We hope to start our own production company within the coming years which will support a diversity of filmmakers, giving chances to those who are deserving of a voice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lisa-and-liza#/
- Phone: 8475328022
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisa_and_liza_movie/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisaandlizamovie/
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11162424/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Image Credit:
Bleu Cremers (Drawing)
Sinah Ober
Erick Morales (Poster)
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