It can be brutal enough just growing up a girl. Then add poverty, addiction, and God to the mix. Armed with a gun and a prayer, Emma and her cat bravely go where too many girls have gone before.
Small Time is about a girl growing up in rural America in the shadow of the opioid crisis and “the war on terror.” This story is, fundamentally, about America, and its internal contradictions. Like a mirage, one America shimmers before us while we stumble over another. The film takes an empathetic and darkly humorous look at life, childhood, and personhood as young Emma navigates the American myth.
“The best of what American independent filmmaking has to offer – in spirit and vision.”
Starring: Audrey Grace Marshall, Dominique Johnson, Holter Graham, Kevin Loreque, Maria Hasen, Sina Rassi, Elissa Middleton, Jason Gratkowski, Don Scimé
Writer, director, cinematographer: Niav Conty
Producer, composer: John J. A. Jannone
Executive producer: Oren Moverman
Production design: Kate Rance
Editing: Babak Rassi & Niav Conty
“The director’s touch is light, even glancing, every frame carries wonder and dread… it is worthy of our finest humanist directors.”
“Small Time offers a story as large as life itself.”
“Small Time’s many elements come together in a powerfully evocative mix, like a modern-day Italian neorealist fable.”
“Captures the essence of child-like wonder.”
“There’s nothing small about the talent in this mighty feature from screenwriter/director Niav Conty, who is an astute observer of the human condition.”
“THIS is the film that addresses the world, right now… by an artist who feels the world and what we need.”
“[Small Time] absolutely galvanized me from beginning to end.”
“Audrey Grace Marshall is brilliant in the lead role.”
“[Small Time] finds a resonant intimacy as it explores fractured families with compassion and tenderness.”
“SMALL TIME is anything but small in its storytelling and its voice.”
Essay: Realer Than Reality, written by Niav Conty for Talkhouse, about Small Time and memory.
Interview: The Female Gaze, through The Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the EDA award for best female-directed feature at Whistler FF.