By Katie Chambers
Welcome to NYWIFT, Eunice Levis! Writer and director Eunice Levis is a first-generation Dominican American from the Bronx, New York. Eunice’s work focuses on genre-bending stories that combine her love of horror, sci-fi, thriller, and fantasy, often through a diasporic lens. She seeks to disrupt and challenge dominant narratives around technology, race, gender, history, and diaspora identity by altering the stories we tell about them.
Her latest film, Ro & the Stardust, a space fantasy short was selected for inclusion in the 2021 NALIP Latino Lens Women of Color Short Film Incubator, sponsored by Netflix. The film won Best Narrative Short at the 25th Annual Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, making it an Oscar® qualified Narrative Short Film.
Eunice spoke to us about her early inspirations, her latest work, and how genre stories offer a unique opportunity to challenge the status quo.
NYWIFT member Eunice Levis
Tell us about yourself – give us your elevator pitch!
I am a writer and director focused on genre-bending stories often told through a diasporic lens.
What has been your favorite project to date and why?
There are two projects that I am particularly proud of. InVade, my environmental sci-fi short, and Ro & the Stardust, my space fantasy. I wrote and directed both films – they stand out because I created them without fear of how they would be received. They both represent my unfiltered creative voice.
Still from Ro & the Stardust
What draws you to horror, sci-fi, and fantasy as your genres of choice?
Genre is the great equalizer when it comes to story and film. It doesn’t have to make sense, doesn’t have to have a past, present or a future that is based in reality. Genre allows me to acknowledge, rectify and heal. I love that. I love having the ability to insert unlikely characters anywhere in history or in the universe. It’s empowering and for me the ultimate way to challenge the status quo.
Behind the scenes of Ro & the Stardust
What TV shows and movies did you see growing up that inspired you to become a filmmaker?
Too many to list! Everything from The Goonies, Gremlins, Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone, and anything Steven Spielberg created or produced I consumed at dangerous levels! Creatively I lean into that type of magic.
Eunice Levis on the set of InVade
How do you use stories about technology and the future to explore real-life issues facing us today?
I love to mix fictional technology with real life issues. For example, in my short InVade I wanted to discuss the potential effects fracking could have in the state of Pennsylvania. I created an exaggerated outcome for a very real issue. Perhaps fracking may never affect the sedimentary rock foundation in eastern North America BUT maybe it will.
That is the usefulness of science fiction and tech horror. It is unique because there is a chance that the science can at some point become real. Science in story is essentially limitless, so creating stories within that genre is a great vehicle for starting dialogue and even modifying behavior.
Eunice Levis on the set of Ro & the Stardust
What is the best advice you ever received?
The advice wasn’t directed towards me personally but earlier this year I attended a chat featuring Misha Green. She said as an artist you must “put yourself in danger.”
That’s something I’ve only recently embraced – to create and take up space in genre – in spite of my fears.
Eunice Levis on set
What inspired you to join NYWIFT?
I attended an event and loved the genuine camaraderie. There’s something really special about being part of an organization that acknowledges the specific challenges and hardships women face in this industry.
Still from Ro & the Stardust
And what is next for you?
First up, I’m workshopping my feature script To the Moon based on my short Ro & the Stardust.
I’m also directing a female-led campy horror short Affordable Housing, in Spring 2023. That short will be produced by fellow NYWIFT member, [Board Member] Okema T. Moore.
And last but not least, I’ll be kicking off a campaign aiming to get Ro & the Stardust on the 2024 Oscar® narrative short list!
Learn more about Eunice Levis on her websites www.eunicelevis.com and www.invadethemovie.com, and connect with her on social media on Facebook at @elevis, Twitter at @ElWuel, Instagram at @eunice_e_levis, and on LinkedIn.
Katie Chambers
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