Armando Smith - Sundance Collab

My passion in life has always been to tell complex stories with social importance through the art of cinema. Graduating from California State University Los Angeles with a BA in English, I spent my entire savings account to create my first professional short film. It is an honor and a pleasure to be competing with so many talented young filmmakers across the globe. Growing up, films helped make me more open minded and progressive, and I dream that one day my works will do the same.

My work:

Video

Bare Luxuries

Creator: Armando Smith

Bare Luxuries

Creator: Armando Smith

With only hours to pay an entire month's rent, Anya must sell her most prized possessions, all while being haunted by the vision of her living homeless on the side walk across the street. As this LA based project was filmed a year ago, the city of Los Angeles had just repealed its COVID rent protection laws. Since then, the City Controller's office has reported more than 77,000 evictions between February and December of 2023, causing a 10% increase in homelessness in the city.