My short thesis film @parableoftheotherfilm has been selected for the 2026 Atlanta film festival and will screen in the Narrative short section. This film taught me a lot as a student is still teaching me as a human. It’s a representation of a journey that I feel many are still on especially a reflection of myself. Thankful for the crew that helped bring this together and to be able to share it with others
#film
#2026
#create
#dance
#atlff
Parable of the Other (@parableoftheotherfilm ) is premiering at the 2026 Atlanta Film Festival (@atlantafilmfestival ). Here’s some BTS from our time on set 🤍
Thank you to everyone who gave their time, energy, donations and passion to this film. 🙏🏽
This was the first thesis short film I produced and having it accepted into a festival in Atlanta, a city I consider home, and a festival I’ve always wanted to be part of means so much. I’m grateful this is the project that gets to be showcased.
@somewhere_butnowhere Keep creating and being divinely led. So many more stories to tell! ✨
Meet the team behind the @americanfilminstitute thesis film ‘Little Birds’ - a film about two seven year-old-girls who escape their bleak world into one of make-believe; but when their game of flight takes a tragic turn, one is left to face the consequences alone.
This film can only be made with the support of people like you. If you are interested in learning more or donating to make this film come to life, click the link in our bio to learn more.
Meet our producer Kia Pooler Whittenburg
Kia is a filmmaker based in Los Angeles and Atlanta, currently finishing her Master’s in Film Producing at the American Film Institute.
Working across fiction, documentary, and experimental forms, her films examine the resilience of youth, liberation, and the quiet beauty found in moments of innocence. Drawing on the tenderness of childhood, the search for identity, and lived experiences, her work inhabits the space between memory and reality, inviting audiences to confront truth, find healing, and recognize the shared humanity that connects us.
Her work has been featured at the Atlanta Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, and in institutions and installations across Greater Atlanta. Continuing to expand her exploration of stories at the intersection of vulnerability and liberation, she brings this sensibility to Little Birds, a tender yet lingering portrait of innocence and loss.
Support Kia’s thesis journey at the link in our bio
She asked for her first 800 dollar camera 📷 at 13 years old. Thank God we brought it. It was the foundation for this amazingly talented Hollywood producer. She saw what others didn’t and she stuck with it! Continue the journey @kiapooler and walk into those production rooms like God himself sent you. You are now laying the foundation for your future self. #producedbyher #americanfilminstitute #producer @guap45hunnid
In 2018, I wrote down that in five years, I’d be working with some of the best filmmakers and would become a successful producer. Fast forward exactly five years, I got accepted into the American Film Institute (@americanfilminstitute ) to pursue my Master’s in Producing. & here we are ✨
Little Kia would be so proud to see that she finally made it to Hollywood, doing what she’s always dreamed of. 🏆 #divinity
*watch with headphones plz*
“Take Your Zen” is a spec commercial for the Bose QuietComfort earbuds. this was made with the MASSIVE help of a truly grand group of people. each of them made this project see the light of day. super geeked to do more work in this vein. ps: big thank you also to my friends that helped me financially to get this made.
enjoy. see the full extended version at the link in bio.
Director: @total__k
Producer: @kiapooler
DP: @apexmali
DP Assist: @vanderlives
1st AD + Grip: @dekoproductions
Grip: @marin_eternal_visuals
1st AC: @jaden_stal_morelli
2nd AC: @maqu3
Sound Tech: @jcharafi
Steadicam: @vanderlives & Ivan Stal
PA: @joshwhiit
Editor: @malia_masei
Sound Design + Foley: @jamal.mcc
Motion Graphics: Misha Pavlov
TALENT:
Main Dancer: @callmecori
Classmate #1: @olibombom
Classmate #2: Tracey Allyn Cutler
Instructor: @triceratops_tt
Grateful for my art being showcased in the fine art space – a long-time dream realized. Despite life’s chaos, divine timing brought this opportunity. Special thanks to @suhendrashinta , The Whittenburgs, The Mulyadis, friends, and my husband for unwavering support. To my immediate family, this past month has made our bond stronger than ever. Excited to see what’s in store for 2024!
Catch my artwork at Atlanta Photography Group @atlantaphotographygroup from now until the end of January 2024.
Many more to come!
Idk if words can express what this past week was for me, but I’ll try.
GSU’s Liquid Blackness (@liquidblackness ) hosted a Symposium on Music Video as Black Art: Claiming the B-Side to mark the 10-year anniversary of its founding as a study group. I want to personally thank Dr. Raengo for featuring my film as well as having such an empowering panel of artists & filmmakers that have shaped so much of black cinema and art. Studying their work inspired so much of my craft and their influence made me privy to a world beyond the confines of mainstream cinema and art. To be in their presence and hear about their processes and ideologies was so surreal for me.
I can’t express enough gratitude for my GSU film family. If we got a chance to talk, just know that I valued every word & though everyone isn’t pictured I want you to know that I was overwhelmed with your support and words of affirmations. Thank you for grounding me & reminding me of who I am, what I’ve done, and what I have yet to do.
I receive it.
& lastly I just want to thank all of my undergrad film professors. The impact you’ve all had on me I never take for granted.
Thank you for seeing me, pushing me & supporting me, always.
