First Blood

Directed by Olivia Loccisano

Runtime: 7:51

Country of Origin: Canada

A teenage girl goes through a bizarre transformation after she gets her first period.

Director Biography - Olivia Loccisano

Olivia Loccisano is a storyteller from Toronto, Canada. Her work centers around transformations of the female body, specifically through dark fantasy, body horror and magical realism. Through storytelling, she explores how young women and children navigate strange realms of life through their own imagination and rituals. Her first short film “First Blood” (2022) premiered at Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival and is currently in its festival circuit. Her body horror script "Simone" won Best Short Screenplay at the Renegade Film Festival (2022), formerly known as the Women in Horror Film Festival, and was a Semi-Finalist at Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival Screenplay Competition.

She is a recent recipient of the Canada and Toronto Arts Council grants for her forthcoming short stop motion film “Pocket Princess”, based on her short story of the same name published in Prometheus Dreaming. Her short stories and poetry have been published in Pink Plastic House, Coffin Bell Journal, Drunk Monkeys, La Piccioletta Barca, and more.

Olivia graduated from York University’s Fine Arts Screenwriting program (Honours) with a double major in English Literature. She has a Master in Teaching from the University of Toronto. She is a Film and English high school teacher with the Toronto District School Board.