BRIT PHELAN DOESN’T JUST WRITE, DIRECT, AND ACT IN HER FILMS. SHE LIVES INSIDE THEM.

Her films begin with something she is trying to understand. In her 2023 feature, Finding Dad, Brit turns her search for the father she never met into an exploration of identity, memory, and the stories we build around the people we don't know. She recreates her father's apartment inside her own home and casts an actor to play her, while also appearing onscreen as herself. By experiencing the story from both sides of the camera, she places herself back in the search, allowing the uncertainty, longing, and unanswered questions to become something the audience can experience alongside her.

Her upcoming feature, Something Happened, explores a question Brit is still trying to answer. What do you do with your anger when you've been taught to be ashamed of it? Without knowing the answer, she puts herself through it. She builds the character from the outside in, using design, movement, and sound to find her way into the conflict. Her vigilante suit fights against her as she moves with the speed of Muay Thai, trapping her inside her own body. Eastern worship percussion builds with the fight.

She puts herself inside the question to let the process change her. Her fears, contradictions, and desires emerge within the boundaries of the film. Somewhere between performance and experience, she finds something true.