Spike Lee has boarded as an executive producer on Chinese-Lebanese Spanish-born filmmaker Joecar Hanna‘s short film “Talk Me,” which has been selected by Cannes Film Festival to run in its Cinef section, a selection of 13 live-action and three animated films from among the 2,700 submitted by film schools all over the world.
In a statement, Lee commented: “Joecar Hanna is another in the long list of my very talented New York University Graduate Film Students. His vision is unique and it’s his multi-talents Directing/Writing/Editing and Acting that makes Joecar’s STORYTELLING a NEW VISION in this CRAZY WORLD WE ALL LIVE AND DIE IN TODAY. WELCOME TO THE MAYHEM.”
Joecar Hanna, Spike Lee
Courtesy of Joecar Hanna
In the film, Hanna plays Pedro, an outsider trapped in a passionless marriage, who secretly escapes through music. When he meets Kira, another outsider who shares his yearning for true intimacy, they begin a risky conversational affair.
“In ‘Talk Me,’ I wanted to push my storytelling further, using fable-like narratives and surrealism to intimately explore human contradictions, identity, and the little cages we create for ourselves,” Hanna said. “Having Spike Lee as an executive producer on the project is such a privilege. He believed in my vision since he saw my previous short film ‘Deliver Me,’ which premiered at SXSW in 2023, and has been really supportive of my creative process since then.”
Following the screening of “Deliver Me” at SXSW, Jerome Duboz, the manager of directors Bong Joon-Ho, Justine Triet, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Gael Garcia Bernal, signed on to be Hanna’s manager. He is also repped by Independent Talent in the U.K. and is currently finishing grad school at NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. He will be graduating next month.
Hanna’s films provide a “commentary on the dysfunctionalities of our world where communication is obsolete and loneliness is the status quo,” according to a statement. “From his mixed cultural identity, comes a feeling of difference and displacement, which translates into Hanna’s signature style: a blend of realism and surrealism, exploring human contradictions, challenging social norms and framing stories as metaphors that let viewers engage openly without feeling judged, and encouraging deep personal reflection.”
Joecar Hanna
Courtesy of Jeremy Gumener
He is also the star of “Lump,” the latest work from Alexandre Rockwell (“In the Soup”), shot largely inside a car and on location, entirely on iPhone in black and white. The film earned a Special Mention at the Warsaw Film Festival in Poland and was also selected at BAFICI in Argentina.
Hanna was selected as a participating filmmaker for the Marcie Bloom Fellowship in film, which organizes monthly meetings with industry professionals and provides support and direction for the next generation of filmmakers to start their debut features.
He is a recipient of the Black Family Prize, the Ang Lee Scholarship Award, received the Ang Lee Scholarship Award and is a nominee of the BAFTA scholarship.
“Talk Me” poster
Courtesy of Joecar Hanna