A Genre-Bending Road Trip 

Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival
World Premiere

Unidentified Objects
Directed by Juan Felipe Zuleta

World Premiere (Special Presentation)
Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival

May 27, 2022
7:15pm
Cinema 1 – TIFF Bell Lightbox – 350 King St. W.

Also available to stream online across Ontario – May 26 – June 5, 2022
More info here

Actors Sarah Hay, Matthew August Jeffers,
along with Director Juan Felipe Zuleta,
and Producers Masha Leonov and Leland Frankel,
will all be attending the Premiere in Toronto

Unidentified Objects, a must-see first feature from Colombian director Juan Felipe Zuleta, will make its highly-anticipated world premiere on May 27 at the upcoming Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival. It is a Special Presentation screening and part of the international festival’s opening weekend, which will be held in Cinema 1 at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. The film will also be available to stream across Ontario for the duration of the festival, May 27 – June 5.

Golden Globe-nominee Sarah Hay (Flesh & Bone) stars alongside Matthew August Jeffers. Rising stars Roberta Colindrez (Vida), Hamish Allan-Headley (Mayor of Kingstown), and Elliot Frances Flynn (Linoleum) round out the cast.

The surreal, sci-fi tinged comedy-drama follows curmudgeonly gay dwarf (Jeffers) and his happy-go-lucky neighbour (Hay) as they embark on a road trip from New York City to rural Canada. Their destination is the site of what she believes to be an upcoming alien visitation. Along the way, their friendship will be tested by shroom-addled survivalists, overzealous cosplayers, and the painful realization that we possibly may be alone in the universe.

“Our film is a platonic love story about finding connection in a divided world,” says director Zuleta, “that reflects my own experiences adapting to a new country. If Unidentified Objects can show even one restless soul how much they matter, then all of our work and sacrifice was absolutely worth it.”

Jeffers is a 30-year-old little person (LP) who was born with a form of dwarfism so rare that it was initially only referred to as “Matthew’s Disease.” Already a critically-acclaimed veteran actor of Off-Broadway and hit TV shows such as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and New Amsterdam, Unidentified Objects marks his feature film debut.

“Representation for little people is not progressing fast enough,” says Jeffers, “but I do notice and appreciate the dial clicking forward.

“Ask folks to name an LP actor and they will immediately say ‘Peter Dinklage’, but that is most likely all they will say,” continues Jeffers. “When your minority group has only one ambassador in mainstream culture, it does not always signify progress for the group as a whole. Certainly we are seeing LP performers in roles other than “Santa’s Helper,” and you do hear the slur “midget” tossed around less often on-screen. But there is more work to be done. So I’m here with my shovel to try and pave the way for others as much as I can.”

Unidentified Objects is scripted by Leland Frankel from an original story by Frankel and Zuleta. Camilo Monsalve serves as Director of Photography, with editing by Raphael Lubczanski. Producers are Juan Sebastian Jaimes, Zuleta, Masha Leonov, Sarah Hay, Matthew August Jeffers, Ramfis Myrthil, and Leland Frankel. Executive Producers are Brandon Boyd, Julieth Restrepo, Adam Piotrowicz, Sebastian Zuleta, John Busch, Vincent Davino, Amory Hollis, Mat Hollis, David Leidy, Chad Shields.

Worldwide distribution rights for Unidentified Objects are available.