Seventeen-year-old Renella Mendoza grieves the loss of her mother, who died during a global pandemic. To help Renella recover, her school counsellor encourages her to take an electronics internship with a prestigious academic group conducting a research study in the tropical city of Mayaaka. There, Renella stumbles on four things: an apparent cure for her debilitating skin condition, an immunity to electrocution, a mind-melding contraption, and a group of exploited girls. But when Renella tries to rescue the girls, all of whom have a similar skin condition, she learns that none of the girls want to be rescued. At least—not by her.
The Great Tit is a Bird, a new sci-fi narrative project, probes the compromises and consequences that vulnerable, structurally oppressed people around the world—from public laboratories to private boudoirs—undertake just to survive. This transfeminine story explores issues its creators have witnessed firsthand, including techno-colonization, research misconduct, gender-based violence, and threats to bodily integrity and autonomy.
The show, which began as an episodic audio drama and is currently being produced as a series of animated arthouse films, is a mosaic of found media: voice memos, commercials, voicemails, radio shows, and phone calls. The cast includes performers in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
Films in The Great Tit is a Bird are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. They are also made possible by NYC Mayor’s Office for Media and Entertainment, New York Foundation for the Arts, NYU Office of Global Inclusion, and the Peace Studio.