When Sophia receives a visit from her cousin Kate, the two debate love, ambition, and the sacrifices the pair must make in a world that wasn’t built for them. Faced with a fork in the road, both must choose between the comfort of convention and the uncertain promise of self-determination—knowing that any path forward demands a sacrifice neither is fully ready to make.
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Director Biography – Julia Keesler, Cameron Strittmatter
Julia Keesler is an actor and first time filmmaker based in NYC. Forced by her sister at the tender age of 7 to watch Lord of the Rings over and over every weekend, it informed her inner self and outer view on storytelling. Now, other-worldly stories from period dramas to sci-fi/fantasy that explore our base yet complex human condition amidst fantastical settings are what continue to drive her. Inspired by influential works from Del Toro’s genre blending poetic filmmaking to Gerwig’s “…permission to experience the truth that you can only reach when you move into the ridiculous.” take on filmmaking, Julia seeks to make movies that transport the audience and informs them about themselves in ways they never thought of.
Director Statement
FOLLOW, IF I CAN was born from a personal tension I know intimately. Sophie and Kate are two sides of myself. Sophie is the dreamer—the part that longs to run headfirst into the unknown, to chase creation, freedom, and recognition. Kate is the one who lingers—who finds comfort in her family and the known. Writing this piece was a way to explore the quiet war between those desires: the pull to stay rooted in love, and the ache to grow beyond it. Their dialogue is, in many ways, a conversation I keep having with myself. Choosing one path can feel like betraying the other, and I wanted to live in that space—for just a moment—before the choice is made.
Conversely, FOLLOW, IF I CAN, though set in the early 1800s, poses a question that remains deeply relevant. Today, women navigate expanded opportunities alongside enduring pressures—called to achieve, to lead, and to care, often all at once. The film explores the quiet tension between personal ambition and the roles society continues to ask women to fill, echoing a conflict that, while reshaped, is far from resolved.
FOLLOW, IF I CAN seeks to give the audience a chance to reflect on their road yet taken. Will we be happy with the outcome if the choice we make means perhaps giving up a part of ourselves?
— JULIA KEESLER
| Julia Keesler Director, Writer, Producer Cameron Strittmatter Director Julia Keesler Producer Cameron Strittmatter Producer Julia Keesler Key Cast “Sophia” Annie Young Key Cast “Kate” |
