Best known for her Oscar-nominated documentary short “Sing!” (2001) as well as for the surreal short “End of the Line” (part of a comedy anthology for “Refinery29”), filmmaker Jessica Sanders’ upcoming short “I Want to Feel Fun” (which heads to Tribeca Festival) features a whimsical plot and follows one woman’s quest to see Nikki Minaj live in concert, only to be hindered by a sudden situationship.
In this interview, Sanders offers insight into her thought process behind this fun ‘Scorsese-esque’ short—which is as impromptu as they come—featuring total improvisation by comic talents such as Simon Rex, Vivian Bang, and others.
Vidal D’Costa for The Movie Buff: Congratulations on making the cut at Tribeca with your short film “I Want To Feel Fun.” Could you tell us about your background as a filmmaker? Are there any fellow creatives who influence your films (aside from Nicki Minaj, obviously), or whom you look up to in the industry?
Jessica Sanders: Thank you! Tribeca is one of my all-time favourite festivals, so very happy to be back! I was at Tribeca at the beginning of my career with the feature documentary “After Innocence” a game-changer in criminal justice reform about wrongfully convicted people, and more recently with a martial arts action comedy short “The Cocktail Party” — so I have a diverse filmmaking background that traverses social justice stories to visual comedy, surrealism and VFX (“End of the Line”). My new film “I Want to Feel Fun” mixes actors with non-actors —the film is in the spirit of Sean Baker’s “Tangerine” and Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours.” I also come from a filmmaking family — my folks are Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers Terry Sanders and Freida Lee Mock, so they are an inspiration and mentors as well.
VD: What led to the transition from documentary filmmaking to the comedy genre, particularly improv? Did you find any similarities that connect and bridge the gap between both these genres or any stark contrasts, especially pertaining to storytelling/technical aspects?
I love collaborating with my actors and being open to unexpected.”
Jessica Sanders
JS: For me, comedy with a base in documentary filmmaking makes sense, as so many of my favourite documentaries from Chris Smith’s “American Movie” to Rob Bindler’s “Hands on a Hard Body” are completely hilarious and more memorable than most scripted feature films. I’m entertained by the humour and complexity of real life so I like to embrace all these details in my filmmaking. For “I Want to Feel Fun” I saw comedian Esther Povitsky’s Nicki Minaj shower curtain, which I thought was so funny. Soon after, I saw that Nicki was performing in Downtown Los Angeles. This sparked the idea for the film of Esther trying to get into the Nicki Minaj concert. For me, a good story and great character are everything — in fiction or non-fiction storytelling, it’s the same.
VD: “I Want To Feel Fun” is fronted by comedic talents like Simon Rex (the critically acclaimed “Red Rocket” and “Scary Movie” franchise), Esther Povitsky (“Dollface”), Avi Rothman (credited as a co-writer) and “Always Be My Maybe’s” Vivian Bang. Could you share your experience working with such a fun cast and the creative process? Were there any gags that didn’t make the cut in the final work?
JS: I love collaborating with my actors and being open to unexpected, fun ideas they have for their roles and the scene. My cast are all incredibly smart, observant performers, and mixing them with non-actors and seeing their interplay, I find to be exhilarating. I particularly enjoyed Vivian Bang and Avi Rothman’s scene with the Kang Family, who are all non-actors. They did an incredible job improvising together. I was smiling the whole time. Esther Povitsky and Simon Rex have an amazing chemistry and vulnerability with each other that was refreshing — it all felt very real, like our camera was a fly on the wall in their intimate awkward
VD: I wish you all the very best for the festival. Lastly, could you share details regarding any new/upcoming works that our readers can look forward to?
JS: I’m expanding “I Want to Feel Fun” into a feature film, shooting this summer, so people can look out for the film next year!
*I Want To Feel Fun will have its world premiere at Tribeca on Friday, June 13, 6:00 PM at the Shorts Theatre at Spring Studios. More details here: https://tribecafilm.com/films/i-want-to-feel-fun-2025
