I am honored and over the moon overjoyed to share that Vestibule, the feature documentary I have been working on for the past 8.5 years, is a Sundance Documentary Fund grantee.
Vestibule is a documentary about my journey with a vulvovaginal condition called vestibulodynia. It took me eight years, six doctors, three physical therapists, and two surgeries to be able to have pain-free intercourse. For nearly a decade of my life, I desperately sought answers and a cure, hiding what I was going through from everyone except a few people.
I decided to tell my story as a way to explore the questions and themes that arose from this experience — of living in a body that betrayed me, navigating a healthcare system that dismissed me, and a culture that undermined my agency over my body and sexuality. The film uses stylized dance sequences to tell my story and explore the stories of my grandmother and great-grandmother, their own relationships with their bodies, and a maternal lineage of shame and resilience. What begins as a singular mission to have pain-free sex becomes a multi-generational story about sexual health, pleasure, and agency.
Our entire team is so grateful to Sundance for their support of this very personal film. With this funding, we are able to start filming the stylized dance sequences which we’ve been dreaming of for years. Stay tuned for exciting updates!
