Bryar County

Presenter(s)

Mason Weston, Anthony Battaglia, Caitlin Bassolino

Abstract or Description

Bryar County is a Senior Thesis short film following Clint, a young man who loves his rural hometown but holds onto two secrets. The first: he’s gay. The second: he is dear friends with Billy, the sole non-binary person in town who is in the early stages of discovering his own gender identity. Their friendship, kept a secret per Billy's advice, has helped Clint find inner acceptance, but acceptance is not the same as peace, and Clint is forced to consider what coming out might mean for his tranquil life with his mother and sister in his small town.

Bryar County is produced by students of the Film and Television program. MEIS student Alana Margolis of the all-female folk trio “Sister Neapolitan” provides some beautiful folk music to enhance the film’s story. Our projected outcome is to screen the short at film festivals internationally in the hope that having more diverse representations of LGBTQ+ people on the big screen can continue to foster empathy and equality on a more grand social scale.

Nonbinary and genderfluid people rarely have on-screen representation, particularly in stories in rural settings like Bryar County. Many LGBTQ+ individuals in small isolated towns live in intense secrecy due to discrimination and threats of violence. We are proud to tell a story featuring queer characters because the more familiar the general population can become with diverse identities in fiction, the more we can understand, accept, and embrace one another in our own lives.