EMPRESS CLAWSCREAM

SYNOPSIS:

1992. On GCSE results day, awkward Irish teen Róisín fears losing her best friend and secret crush, Jess, a riot grrrl punk pixie. Determined to confess her feelings, Róisín casts a spell to summon the help of Empress ClawScream, a fictional cartoon villainess the girls idolize, as they prepare to sell their feminist zine at a local sci-fi convention.

At the male-dominated convention, Róisín and Jess face a rigid hierarchy and unwittingly break its rules. But Róisín’s troubles escalate when she encounters a real-life Empress ClawScream in the bathroom, intent on fulfilling Róisín’s wish. Meanwhile, Jess, inspired by stallholder Oleg, rallies against the convention’s inequality, clashing with its Trekkie overlords, V and Crispin.

As Jess challenges the patriarchy, Róisín confronts her insecurities with Empress ClawScream, leading to a heartfelt revelation and a convention-wide revolution.

‘Empress ClawScream’ is a quirky and empowering LGBTQIA+ comedy short film about self-discovery, first love, fandoms, and the power of being true to yourself.

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

Unrequited love. A toxic patriarchy. A terrible sci-fi convention. And a cartoon villainess brought to life . . . What’s a girl to do?

‘Empress ClawScream’ - the brainchild of Director Stephen T Lally - is a joyfully subversive LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age story. A tongue-in-cheek homage to 1980s toy crazes and TV series like ‘He-Man’, ‘Thundercats’, and ‘She-Ra’, ‘Empress ClawScream’ celebrates the DIY spirit of fandoms and sci-fi conventions with anarchic charm.

‘Empress ClawScream’ originated as a collection of concept artwork and photography by Stephen, designed to flesh out the "world-within-a-world" nature of its fictional cartoon series and characters. This evolved into a short film, completed in late 2022 and selected for Festival Formula’s slate, launching its global festival run. The film has since won Best Sci-Fi Film at the Berlin Short Film Festival and Best Hair & Make-Up at the British Short Film Awards. ‘Empress ClawScream’ has screened at prestigious festivals including the BIFA-qualifying Beeston Festival (where it was nominated for Best in Pride and Best in Festival), the Academy Award-qualifying deadCenter and the British Council-listed Poppy Jasper International Film Festival.

SELECT SCREENINGS:

SELECT AWARDS:

Best Hair & Make-Up at The British Short Film Awards | Best Sci-Fi Film at The Berlin Short Film Festival

As the film revolves around two teenage girls being obsessed with the villainess of a 1980s TV show, we created a website for the toy manufacturers of the action figures from this TV show. The tongue-in-cheek, action-figure-centric website for the 'Empress ClawScream' film is visible here.

The multi-media website goes into the mythology of the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon series that the character of Empress ClawScream originated from - "Princess StarShimmer and the Joy Crusaders". The website is in the guise of the fictional toy company that created the action figures for this cartoon series, and who is bringing out a 35th-anniversary edition of the "Princess StarShimmer and the Joy Crusaders" toyline. However, the deeper you delve into the website, the more infected it gets by the mischievous Empress ClawScream . . .

Stephen created a host of fake catalogue posters for the tie-in toys to this fictional cartoon. Stephen also shot a promo film that serves as a seemingly authentic “found footage” 1980s TV commercial for the action figures and playsets from the fictional 1980s cartoon series ‘Princess StarShimmer and the Joy Crusaders’.

The fictional 'Empress ClawScream' 1980s toy commercial and catalogue posters are viewable on this page - alongside the teaser feature film poster created for the 'Empress ClawScream' film itself by Rob Fuller.

For more information on the project - or to request a screener of the short film - please send a message to: stephen@stephentlally.com

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EMPRESS CLAWSCREAM

SYNOPSIS:

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

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