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Director’s Statement

Oma is about my Grandparents. The two of them met in New York as teenage refugees from the violence of the old world, My Grandmother, a British orphan, and my Grandfather, a German Jew. My Grandmother tells me that at the time they met, he could barely speak English, but they fell in love and made a life together, far from where they were born. My Grandfather has been gone for almost ten years now, but my Grandmother still talks bout him like he's in the other room, waiting to take her away. This short film takes inspiration from their stories, incorporating them into the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, a German folktale from the culture my grandfather’s family fled.

It is meant to speak to the complexity of grief in the eyes of a child, the ebbing loss of a loved one bit by bit, their body, their memories, their history. For so many people, the death of a grandparent is the first great loss of their lives, and I felt that this fairy tale was particularly wanting for a retelling that framed it within this context. I love how fairytales can be retold and reworked through the generations and am proud to be adding my own addition to this lineage.

Key Team Bios

Shane Bannon - Writer & Director

Shane Bannon is a writer, director, and producer from San Francisco. Alongside his creative partner, Celina Bernstein, he runs Company of Wolves, a production company based out of Los Angeles. His short films have played at festivals including Fantasia, Dances With Films, and Grimmfest, as well as on Alter, where they have accrued over 300,000 views. His first feature screenplay, co-written with Celina Bernstein won Best Unproduced Feature Screenplay at Filmquest 2022.

Celina Bernstein - Producer

Celina Bernstein is an actor, writer, and producer from Paris, France based in Los Angeles. Upcoming producing credits include the proof-of-concept period piece, Oma, and the social media body horror TIPS, starring, written, and directed by Emma Pasarow (Along for the Ride, Netflix), which will be releasing under Company of Wolves, her new production company co-founded with Shane Bannon. Other notable projects include Needle (Fantasia 2026), The Perfect Place to Cry (Fantasia 2023, Dances with Films 2023) and Ride Baby Ride (in partnership with MovieMaker Magazine) all of which Celina starred in and produced. Her first feature screenplay, co-written with Shane Bannon won Best Unproduced Feature Screenplay at Filmquest 2022.

Hannah May Cumming - Producer

Hannah May Cumming is a Portland based writer, director, producer, and the creator of the feminist horror production company Monstrous Femme Films. She is most known for her short award-winning horror films BABY FEVER (2022) and FANATICO (2019) both of which are platformed on WatchAlter.com, amassing hundreds of thousands of views. Hannah’s work is an amalgamation of feminist horror and her love of retro design and fashion. She has a knack for creating highly stylized worlds and fascinating, complex female characters. As seen clearly in her films, Hannah is unafraid to take provocative, creative risks within the horror genre, especially when that work is taking a strong socio-political stance.

Matt Kleppner - Director of Photography

Matt Kleppner is an award winning cinematographer based in Los Angeles. The grandson of Caribbean, Chinese, and Jewish immigrants, Matt holds a special affinity for stories about cultural identity and memory in the U.S. Matt’s recent narrative work has played at festivals across the U.S. and internationally; notably Return to Sender (dir. Russell Goldman, prod. Jamie Lee Curtis & Jake Katofsky) at Fantastic Fest and Hollyshorts opening night, and The Perfect Place to Cry (dir. Shane Bannon, prod. Celina Bernstein) at Fantasia and Dances with Films. Matt holds an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute and a BA in Film Studies and American Studies from Wesleyan University. He was also selected as one of four cinematographers within Color Creative’s inaugural Find Your People cohort.

Beth Cohon - Editor

Beth Cohon started her editing career in commercials, working for clients such as Google, Pinterest, Apple, Fenty, Hello Sunshine, Uninterrupted, and Jansport. She then got the opportunity to assistant-edit on the Hulu series Shōgun, and has been working full-time in TV and film ever since. Her other assistant-editing credits include Feud season 2 (Capote vs. The Swans), Monster seasons 2 (The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story) and 3 (The Ed Gein Story), Amazon’s 56 Days starring Dove Cameron, and Netflix’s upcoming series The Altruists starring Julia Garner. Between network shows, she loves getting into the weeds of an edit on short films such as Oma.