Director's Works
Nana Alfredo Vidal
Writer, director, and photographer Alfredo Vidal is a first-generation Hispanic-American, born and raised in Los Angeles. He spent most of his younger days messing around with photography when he wasn’t playing basketball or skating. Eventually, he would attend ArtCenter College of Design’s film program and begin his journey as a director. His experiences growing up in Los Angeles figure strongly in his distinctive and poignant work. Alfredo is constantly looking at finding new ways to explore visual and narrative storytelling, always with deep human experience at its core. His body of work ranges from commercials to music videos and short narratives. It’s garnered recognition across the world. With inclusion in showcases such as the One Show, AICP, 1.4 Awards, Clio’s, UKMVA’s, and Berlin Commercial Festival, among others.
Chosen family, it’s something so elemental to the human condition. I was inspired to write NANA after seeing Mike Mill’s C’mon C’mon. It awakened so many memories of my childhood and reminded me how lucky I was to have someone who took care of me and loved me unconditionally. After sitting with my thoughts for months, I took pen to paper and started writing. I ended up with half a feature but I wanted to make something small and intimate. So I chucked away, taking memories and fictional ideas and putting them on the page to create this short film. As pre-production began, friends and crew members related so closely to the story that it assured me I was on to something. As soon I cast the characters of Lolli and Anthony Jr. I knew this would be something special. I was so sure of Max’s casting for Anthony Jr. that we pushed production twice to accommodate his schedule. I know now more than ever that I made the right call. No longer is NANA pages full of memories and ideas but after their casting, it became its own thing full of life and possibilities. The entire cast and crew’s performance was remarkable. Creating this film helped me put into perspective how lucky I was as a kid. It also helped me say goodbye to my grandmother, something I never got the chance to do after her sudden death in 2007.