Princess Cyd

January 31, 2018 · Regal Riviera · 7:00 p.m.

16-year-old Cyd (Jessie Pinnick) decides to take a break from her depressive single father and spend a summer in Chicago with her aunt Miranda (Rebecca Spence), a well-known novelist. Soon after her arrival, Cyd encounters Katie (Malic White), a young barista behind the counter. The two make plans to meet up after Katie’s shift and a new, charged relationship begins. The Chicago landscape expands, and we navigate intimate and fragile moments between Cyd and Katie as they explore their new attraction.

Miranda functions as a counterpart to young Cyd’s new explorations of sexuality and love, and as the summer continues they develop a strong relationship founded on a shared openness and healthy criticism of particular personal moments. Sensitive to the contradictions and confusion of the ever-changing self, Stephen Cone has created a film that reimagines that distinct summer feeling when adolescence creeps in, skin is bared, emotions emerge, and everything begins to feel more complicated.

“I can think of no higher compliment than that the film’s warmth and generosity reminded me of the late Jonathan Demme.” — Village Voice

“What might have devolved into cutesy odd-couple territory instead moves in unexpected directions, bolstered by a fundamental idealism.” — Hollywood Reporter

About the Filmmaker

Stephen Cone is a Southern-raised, Chicago-based filmmaker. His previous film, Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, screened at The Public Cinema in 2016. His earlier films include the Outfest-winning, New York Times Critics Pick The Wise Kids, and Black Box, the latter of which starred Josephine Decker and Austin Pendleton. Stephen starred in and produced Ignatiy Vishnevetsky’s Ellie Lumme and was recently featured on Showtime’s Shameless. He teaches film acting at Northwestern University and Acting Studio Chicago.