SIDONIE – (SUPPORTING FEATURED ROLE / Female, 18, non-East Asian and non-White)

SIDONIE, 18, is likely the coolest person you’ve seen in a long while. Everything she does seems effortless. She is a French international student, hailing from a working-class ethnic enclave of Strasbourg. She studies dance at Sarah Lawrence College and is Cindy’s girlfriend. 

For the role of SIDONIE, casting is open to non-East Asian and non-White female-identifying talent, who are between the ages of 18-30 from the NYC metro area. We are looking for a real dancer/choreographer for this role. Please note that it is not a requirement for Sidonie to have a French background, as the director is open to adapting the role to whoever is cast. Must be able to pull off a non-American accent.

To Submit, go to the open call website:

https://www.damianbao.works/chineseschool

----

Damian Bao Casting is currently searching for a dancer to play the role of Sidonie in the feature film CHINESE SCHOOOL.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: A coming-of-age story set primarily in NYC’s vibrant Asian communities, CHINESE SCHOOL will reveal a pocket of America whose dynamism cinema has fallen woefully short in capturing. As it celebrates the food fueling us and the music moving us, the film will also examine with verve and daring our part in the American fabric, which is all too rarely portrayed with nuance, humor, and pride. 

The world of CHINESE SCHOOL will be crafted tenderly, populated by lived-in, eccentric yet empathetic characters and vivid Chinese New Yorker details that will resonate with Asian Americans—and any child of an immigrant household.

CHINESE SCHOOL is supported by the Sundance’s Feature Film Program. For this project, writer/director William Kwok was the recipient of the 2021 Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship and was a Screenwriters Intensive Fellow.

CHINESE SCHOOL was also a semifinalist for the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship (top 1.8% of scripts considered in 2021) and participated in The Gotham Week Project Market (one of just 24 U.S. fiction feature film projects; one of four showcased at its annual New Voices! SAGindie Reading Series) in 2021.

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Raised in the Asian American enclaves of NYC and San Francisco, William Kwok is a filmmaker, attorney, and restaurateur. His directing and writing credits include the documentary shorts “Grandma” and “The Two Deaths of Los Angeles Chinatown,” and the fiction short “Nocturne, No. 1: A Very Short Film About Family.” His producing credits include the fiction feature I WAS A SIMPLE MAN, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, and the fiction shorts “Layover, on the Shore,” “The Broken Heart of Gnocchi Bolognese,” and “Jump.” Kwok’s work has received support from the Sundance Institute, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, and Visual Communications.

 

PRODUCTION NOTE: Filming will start in May or June 2024 in the NYC metro area pending the availability of the main lead and supporting cast. This will be a paid casting opportunity under the SAG Modified Low Budget agreement. 

CASTING NOTE: Casting is open to actors and non-actors for all roles. Talent does not have to have prior acting experience to apply. Open to union and non-union talent. First time actors are welcome to apply!