Short Films

"The Gaze" on ALTER

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Can't believe your eyes? Well look again, because “The Gaze” is now available for viewing on ALTER! Written & directed by Christina Raia, and shot in September 2018, this creepy, campy and timely horror short can now be streamed for free on Alter's IGTV, YouTube and Facebook channels, starting today! 

Director Statement

The ideas for my short films are often not something I'm actively looking for. Premises tend to just come to me, usually late at night when I can't sleep as kind of paths for processing or channeling frustrations I'm feeling at the time. This one was no different. I just started typing; and what came out was a little creepy, a little campy, and hopefully a lot of fun meta horror exploring and subverting objectification & the male gaze, both in terms of the genre and society in general.

It was summer when I wrote it, so being catcalled was a daily occurrence. And I'd say the #metoo stories coming out left & right were... well, overwhelming is an understatement. I had also been binging my childhood favorite, The Twilight Zone (which was coming off the heels of other childhood favorite rewatch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I suppose that's the mental & emotional mix that resulted in the initial screenplay. I wasn't really sure whether or not I wanted to make the film, as I worried it was a little too bizarre in such a short amount of time for it to make sense outside of my head. But my collaborators loved the script and encouraged me to give it a shot. I'm really proud of what we all made together. I hope it resonates with viewers, as well.