Josie Hurtley, a future director, producer, and writer, is creating a thrilling cinematic film that blends her love of science fiction and her own personal stories together. Currently studying set design in the theater program at the University of Utah, Hurtley dedicates her time after classes to creating Anastasis, a film about self-discovery, family, and empowering the transgender community.

Anastasis is a 70s-style sci-fi film that follows a father-daughter relationship where a young trans woman finds the courage to re-establish a bond with her father as an adult. Hurtley describes the movie as, “What it’s like being trans with people in your life who love you, but just don’t understand how to show it. Which I think is a really underrepresented part of the queer experience.”

Hurtley set her eyes on creating a story that is ambitious as it is deeply personal. “It’s overall a hopeful story. I’m kind of done with dour doom and gloom stories just because people who are queer already know and people who aren’t queer already get it,” Hurtley commented. “I think showing a more hopeful and more understanding apathetic way is something I haven’t seen enough of.”

“I think this [film] was the only way I would have been able to articulate to my parents what I needed from them.” 

On Father’s Day, Hurtley showed her parents the script for Anastasis. “It was incredible and very tearful, but it opened up conversations that we weren’t able to have before,” Hurtley said. “It was this really strong confirmation that this story is able to have an impact… Every aspect of this movie is something that I wanted and didn’t have. Whether that was the opportunity to build a spaceship or maybe the opportunity to sit down with my parents so they could understand me and how I wanted them to be.”

Hurtley drew inspiration from her favorite sci-fi films and personal experiences to write a compelling script for Anastasis. “One of the biggest inspirations was Alien. One of my first times watching Alien was with my dad on a cross-country road trip. Putting this story as an interstellar road trip felt really natural. In a really natural way, I wanted to bring my dad into these stories and invite him into my world.”

Hurtley and her crew continue to work tirelessly on the film. Their goal is to be able to submit their film to queer and genre-specific festivals in the near future. Soon they will be launching a crowdfunding campaign to help cover production costs. Stay updated at http://mayedayproductions.com/