Fellows

A FILMMAKER OF TRIBUTES

AS STORIES GO BY: EARLY YOUTH BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES

Abigail “Abby” Kollek is a filmmaker, writer, and actress living in New York City. She was born to a chaotic but loving artistic family, and grew up writing stories and skits for her friends. As an introverted teenager, she found solace and connection on the stage and in on-screen personas. It didn’t take long before she fell in love with filmmaking.

Abby studied Film & Media at the Fashion Institute of Technology, graduating as the valedictorian of the Liberal Arts School in 2021. In her free time, she focused on her writing and attended acting classes at H.B. Studio.

FILMS & PRESENT DAY

WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL BUT ELUSIVE IN OUR LIVES CAN COME CLOSE TO TANGIBLE, AND CAPTURED FOREVER, IN MOVIES.

In college, Abby developed her voice and style as a writer and director, including her student film Sophia, Sunday, a short romantic drama and recipient of the Exceptional Merit at the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival (2021).

Most recently, she received a grant to complete production for her debut feature, Neo-noir film Twenty Seven, currently in post-production. The film is an ode to the East Village and various youth icons of pop culture.

LEARN MORE

FILMMAKING: A PLACE LIKE HOME

IN MOVIES, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN – REALITIES, DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES HARMONIZE.

Abby’s work tends to surround relationships, family, coming-of-age, edge of youth, and themes of masculinity/femininity. She searches for bonds and intimacy between complex characters, often against haunting atmospheres. Darkness is always fused with light, childishness and humor persist through seriosity, and deceptions of the heart try to uncover a hidden truth. We are all alike, and we are all aliens – both looking for love and rejecting it, losing purpose and regaining it; these magnify upon the screen, and turn from haze into something we can almost touch.

She strives to spark feeling and joy in her viewers, as well as in her cast and crew – and believes filmmaking itself should be a humane and bright place, where everyone, no matter their position, is treated with dignity and appreciation. Her work is laced with tributes and references to those she admires and loves, from other filmmakers and artists, to her friends and anonymous encounters.