On capturing female identity and the college experience with filmmaker Brianna Barros

Brianna Barros, an M.F.A student at the University of Georgia, strives to tell “female-centered” stories through film. Her creative spark was ignited when she began making stop-motion American Girl Doll videos as a child. Since then, Barros has participated as a crew member on over twenty-five short films, and directed four short films. 

Her film “Watched,” was accepted into the “Cobb International Film Festival,” and the “Athens Film Festival.” Finding success close to her Georgia roots, Barros grew up in Cobb County and attended university in Athens, Georgia.

“It’s really special that [my success] has followed me where I am in life,” said Barros.

Barros’s capstone project ‘Countdown,’ is a story split into three New Years parties each set one year apart, exploring the inevitable and unexpected change that a young girl faces with each passing year. 

How much of your film “Countdown,” is based on your own experiences?

The concept was definitely my own life—like looking back at my years of college and realizing how much of my life has changed. People that were in my life that I thought would be in life senior year were not. That’s something that you have to come to terms with. 

Barros’s film “Watched,” follows the story of a young woman who is getting stalked by an unknown man. The film opens with the startling phrase: “In the United States, it is estimated 13.5 million people are watched by stalkers every year.”

Could you tell me a little bit about your original idea for ‘Watched?’

That [film] is a lot more personal. I did have a stalker situation sophomore year of college. I think, naturally, the best way to cope with things in life, good or bad, is I want to watch movies about them. So I went and tried to find a movie or a T.V. show that dealt with being a victim of stalking. There just really isn’t anything out there. 

There’s a lot of stuff from the point of view of the stalker, kind of romanticizing it or making it a thriller, really dramatizing it. But I could not find anything that was really accurate to my experience: to walk down the street and really be looking over your shoulder because you didn’t know someone was following you. And so I was like: “You know what? I guess I will make it.”

I’ve had a lot of people come to me and tell me it’s relatable to them and they felt really moved by it which is exactly the whole purpose of it in the first place.

Do you feel like you achieved your goal in portraying your experience?

Not everyone’s experience is going to be the same. The girl in my film goes through way worse stuff that I did. For me it was just uncomfortable situations with that person that I did not want to be around that did not get the message. 

One of the biggest things that we’re taught in screenwriting is to pull from real life, but also recognize that real life might not always be interesting. I tried to find a balance between keeping it realistic but also making it something that’s relatable to people.

Barros worked on a short film titled “2024 Red Ribbon Campus Video PSA Contest Winner,” a short, attention-grabbing commercial that warns college students against the use of drugs and alcohol.

Could you talk a little bit about your role on the DEA Red Ribbon Week Short and what drew you to that production?

I was the producer. We got to go to Boston to present at the DEA. We did a presentation on making effective PSA videos to prevent drug and alcohol abuse. It was the first time I realized that something I helped contribute to could actually give me opportunities like that.

How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen your films?

Female-centered, for sure. A big aspect of “Watched” is in being a woman and the stresses and nerves you can have just existing as a woman. I think “Countdown,” is pretty gender-neutral. But is’ also the kind of [film] where it’s like “if it’s a gender-neutral story, why not have a woman be the main character?

“Ladies Only,” [a film] I just finished, is about the bond between women in the bar bathroom, and that’s super female-focused. That’s something I really want to continue. I also want to do stuff that is Southern-set. I mean, so often, we see [stories] that are set in New York or L.A. I feel like it’s not really represented in media and that’s why it gets kind of a bad “rep.” And I’m like “No, it’s beautiful. I’ve lived here my whole life. I can’t imagine leaving.”

Going forward, I want to start telling a lot of female, southern stories.