An aimless college senior navigates shallow artists, genuine friendships, and homework.
Alice-Heart is an aimless college student residing in Philadelphia. She aspires to be a famous writer but drops out of school in her last semester of senior year on a whim. Immediately cut off from her disappointed Filipino mother and dumped by her studious boyfriend, she finds that she has to pay bills on her own for the first time. Distraught, she takes solace in her neighbor Tony, a self sufficient freelance photographer. Tony encourages her to pursue her passions and hold onto her friendships. With this in mind, Alice-Heart navigates the beginnings of adulthood and combats “adult baby” allegations along the way.
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Statement from director, Mike Macera:
For college, I moved to Philadelphia and majored in film at Temple University. Coming from suburban South Jersey, I was always fascinated with city life, but once I got there, I found myself alone and aimless. I settled on wanting to be a writer, but I had no idea how to put myself out there. My education at Temple often frustrated me, especially during COVID when my classes went online. I felt as though my mom was pouring money into a half-assed education, and I hated my classes. I threatened to drop out more than once and almost did until I couldn't find a job, and fear set in. This is how most of my college experience was shaped—teetering on the edge of dropping out while being pulled back in by financial support and guilt to obtain a degree.
Our deal was that my mom would pay for my student housing as long as I was still in college. Alice-Heart emerged from this personal place. Stuck in a middle ground between feeling like an adult but not financing myself as one. In many ways, I wrote Alice-Heart to be me. But a much more headstrong version of myself— someone who could talk back to ridiculous teachers and openly complain about capitalism with no self-awareness of my privileges. Alice-Heart is meant to reflect this period of young adulthood for many liberal college students who move to cities. On the cusp of independence, recognizing talents, and learning how to cultivate them without the resources that have always been handed to you.
Impact Goals
Statement from actor/producer, Lissa Carandang-Sweeney:
As a proud Filipino-American creative, I celebrate the opportunity to portray humble elements of FilAm culture and biracial existentialism in a way that doesn’t follow textbook melodramas. Working with and becoming close with writer/director, Mike Macera has been one of life’s greatest pleasures: the tongue-in-cheek laments of all privileged twenty-somethings he depicts in Alice-Heart is the perfect setting to explore this playground of identity expression that isn’t typically presented in film.
Alice-Heart is a coming-of-age love letter to the city of Philadelphia, ruminating on the unique concerns of obliviously privileged Gen Z city transplants. With Alice-Heart, our entire team hopes to rekindle the liberated spirit of independent filmmaking and encourage more young Gen Z artists to tell stories that are true to them, no matter how seemingly trivial or grand.
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