Maya Albanese is an award-winning, trilingual film director and screenwriter known for emotional storytelling that jumpstarts social dialogue.
Her original screenplays have been semifinalists in Screencraft and Los Angeles Screenplay Awards, and her films have screened and won awards at festivals worldwide. In 2019, she wrote and directed the dark comedy, FREEZE, starring Chris Parnell, Adrian Grenier, Nora Zehetner, Kel Mitchell, Mindy Sterling, and Rick Overton, which took home “Best Short” and “Best Actress” Awards at its North American Premiere at SeriesFest 2020. We had the opportunity to talk to Maya about FREEZE, as it is about to premiere at the Northfork Film festival on October 22nd. Check it out below!
The Knockturnal: Tell us a little about the plot of Freeze. Do you have any favorite moments from the film?
Maya Albanese: Freeze is about how an optimistic woman named Joy’s fairytale life plans come to a crashing halt on her 35th birthday, and she must figure out a new path forward to becoming a mother before her biological clock expires. Constantly pressured by external voices about what to do with her dwindling egg count, she hears that egg freezing is all the peace of mind she needs.
I love the most heightened and melodramatic scenes, the ones that may make you laugh out loud, but are quite sad at the same time, like the big angry female mob scene shot outside the fertility clinic and Joy’s final meltdown at the ice cream shop.
The Knockturnal: Tell us about Joy’s character and the journey she goes on throughout the film.
Maya Albanese: Joy is an optimist who starts out thinking she can have it all- a perfect husband, two kids, and a two-car garage- the American dream, right?! But, she wants to have a career and to be respected by men too. It turns out she may not be able to have her fairy tale. Once she becomes unexpectedly single and 35, her only value seems to come from her attractiveness to men and her ability to procreate. Her father suggests she be open to different types of men and that becomes quite literal! Her male boss suggests she try egg freezing, which she turns to as a last resort. While people seem to think it’s going to be a joyous, empowering procedure, her experience at the egg freezing clinic is steeped in collective female anxiety under the tyranny of ticking biological clocks.
The Knockturnal: What does being in the festival mean to you?
Maya Albanese: We’re thrilled to be showing Freeze on a big screen at a drive-in among vineyards in this chaotic year. North Fork has done a great job of pivoting its format to make the festival live on in 2020 in a fun and unique way. It’s also exciting to show it to a TV audience, since Freezeis a proof of concept for a bigger TV show.
The Knockturnal: What about the film are you most excited for viewers to see?
Maya Albanese: I’m excited for viewers to see this messed up little world we built for Joy to crash and burn in. I think it’s fun and funny and tragic and serious all at the same time. I hope viewers watch it and think a little bit more about what the woman of today goes through in her thirties, and how the society we live in is not set up to support her to be a healthy mother and a career person, yet.
Hear more about FREEZE here!
The North Fork TV Festival announced that the fifth annual festival will take place on Saturday, October 17, 2020. In response to the global pandemic, the North Fork TV Festival will celebrate the evolution and craft of television by hosting an exclusive drive-in event at the Castello di Borghese Vineyard in Cutchogue, New York. Parking opens at 5:30pm, food goes on sale at 6:00 pm and the program starts at 7:00 pm
