Mutt

Directed by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
87 min.

“Mutt signals an exciting evolution for contemporary trans cinema.” – Indiewire

“Lío Mehiel entrances here, delivering a brooding, captivating tour-de-force.” – The Queer Review

Feña, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is afflicted with an incessantly challenging day that resurrects ghosts from his past. Laundromats, subway turnstiles, and airport transfers are the hectic background to this emotional drama that overlaps past, present, and future. Settling the disharmony of transitional upheaval in relationships familial, romantic, and platonic is Feña’s task at hand, and his resulting juggling act is equal parts skillful, fumbling, and honest. In negotiating his obliqueness, the poignant moments he finds between himself and others—as the distance between them closes—are warm, true, and touching.

Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s directorial debut is at once precise in its specificity and wholly relatable in its grand humanity. A dexterous, visceral lead performance by Lío Mehiel embodies in-betweenness in many forms. Mutt earns its most difficult discussions through its tenderness toward each character’s struggle with the complexity of trans life, Latinx life in America, and of human life at large.

Official selection: Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival

Vuk Lungulov-Klotz (writer/director) has a culturally diverse upbringing. Born in New York City to Chilean and Serbian immigrants, he was raised between Chile, the US, and Serbia. As a transgender storyteller, he hopes to expand queer narratives. His work focuses on intimate moments we often miss if we’re not looking. Mutt is his debut feature film. With his feature film script, MUTT, he is an alum of the Sundance Institute Labs, the Inside Out Financing Forum, and was a top five finalist for the Tribeca/AT&T Untold Stories Grant. His award-winning trans-themed short film, “Still Liam,” played at festivals internationally and earned the attention of celebrated queer filmmakers Ira Sachs and Silas Howard, who have both become mentors. Vuk is also an alum of the Ryan Murphy HALF Initiative Program, where he completed a mentorship under director Janet Mock on the FX series POSE. His feature film debut, Mutt, premiered at Sundance 2023 and is having its international premiere at Berlinale 2023. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lío Mehiel (they/them) | ‘Feña’ (he/him)
Lío Mehiel is a Puerto Rican and Greek artist, actor, and filmmaker. Their work spans film, television, multimedia installation, theater, and events. They are fascinated by the inherent contradiction of the trans experience—one deeply rooted in the body while also transcending beyond the body. Lío began their career as a professional salsa dancer and child actor on Broadway. They can now be seen on shows like We Crashed (Apple+) and Tales of the City (Netflix). They are making their feature film debut in the lead role of Mutt by writer/director Vuk LK, which will make its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2023 and its international premiere at Berlinale 2023. As a filmmaker, Lío produced Chaperone, a queer short film which premiered at Sundance 2022. They wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Disforia, a short film which premiered at Outfest Film Festival in 2018. They are now stuck inside of a psychomagic act with this story as they write the feature script version and confront their own medical transition. As an installation artist, their immersive piece Arcade Amerikana was included in the list of 10 Best Immersive Shows in NYC by Time Out and GOTHAMIST. Lío is currently the producer and creative director of Angels, a developing collection of stone sculptures of transgender humans. The works were first featured as part of a pop-up installation at Outfest LA in 2022, and will be debuted in full at SIZED Gallery LA in 2023. Lío is a co-founder of Voyeur Productions with Russell Kahn and Dulcinee DeGuere. They attended Northwestern University, and are an alumni of the Emerge NYC residency program for artists and activists.

Cole Doman (he/him) | ‘John’
Cole Doman is a trained stage and film actor living in Brooklyn, NY. During his time in Chicago, he studied at the School at Steppenwolf under Amy Morton, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Michael Patrick Thornton, and more. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune named Cole among the “Hot New Faces of Chicago Theater” in 2016. He made his film debut as the titular role in the critically acclaimed Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party directed by Stephen Cone. He has profiles with IndieWire, Brooklyn Magazine, OUT, Milk.xyz, and was featured as one of the “Best Breakout Performances of 2016” by The Film Stage. He can also be seen in Alan Ball’s Uncle Frank (Sundance 2020, Amazon Studios) as young Frank Bledsoe played by Paul Bettany. On television he has appeared in “Let the Right One In”, “Gossip Girl”,“ModernFamily”, “Law & Order: SVU”, “ChicagoPD”, “Equal”, and “Shameless”. He developed and stars in the short film Starfuckers (MUBI) directed by Antonio Marziale which was presented in competition at Sundance Film Festival, Berlinale, and Telluride Film Festival. Other forthcoming films include: Matt Fifer’s sophomore feature Treatment for AMC’s Shudder; Zia Anger’s debut feature My First Film for MUBI. Most recently, he starred in the world premiere of Your Own Personal Exegesis by Julia May Jonas at Lincoln Center Theatre, directed by Annie Tippe, for which his performance was lauded by The New York Times and even cartooned by The New Yorker.