Homing
United States, 16 mins
In a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood, a reclusive pigeon keeper is tasked with caring for his estranged daughter for a day, but is blindsided by a revelation that could mean losing her for good.
Writer/Producer: Munir Atalla
Director: Ricardo Varona
Director of Photography: Rafe Scobey-Thal
Editor: Leeda Yazdi
Sound Design: William Hsieh
Production Designer: Sadra Tehrani
Executive Producer: David Malone, Pigeon Master: Thomas O'neil
Co-Producer: Anthony Yang
Cast: Thiago Macklin, Roxana Contreras, Chrystal Campbell
Contact: Munir Atalla, mma2169@columbia.edu
Program E
Saturday, May 13th at 7pm ET
About the Writer/Producer
Munir Atalla is a Palestinian-American writer and filmmaker with roots in Jordan and Texas. He is a Writer on Netflix's Creative Strategy Team. Informed by his background as an investigative reporter, Munir’s narrative work explores unique subcultures across continents and time with a journalistic eye for detail and nuance. Munir has produced projects for A24, Peacock, The Othrs, and NBC News. His work for PBS Frontline was nominated for a DuPont Award for Journalistic Excellence in 2020. Munir is a graduate of the Writers’ Assistant track of the 2022 WGI Support Staff Training Program. He’s currently based in Brooklyn, New York where he spent so much time with his head in the clouds that he literally made a movie about pigeons.
About the Director
Hailing from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Ricardo Varona is a Miloš Forman Directing Fellow and MFA Directing graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate Film program.His most recent work, 'La mujer de Héctor', won the Warner Media OneFifty Latino Short Film Award at the Miami Film Festival and played on Short of the Week and received a Vimeo Staff Pick. It was nominated for Best Student Film and Best of Festival in the Palm Springs International ShortFest, the Grand Jury Prize at Nashville Film Festival, Best Narrative Short at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, and has been awarded the Best Film Prize at New Faces New Voices and an Honorable Mention for Best Student Short at the Woodstock Film Festival. Ricardo was recognized as “Best Director” at the TIDE film festival in 2022.