ABOUT
“Nothing to Hide” is a psychological comedy set over a single summer night on a boat in the suburban Midwest. Alana returns to her hometown for her sister Sophie’s wedding. When a rowdy bachelorette party spirals out of control, buried family tensions surface, and the sisters must confront the emotional costs of love, shame, and the pressure to belong in a family that doesn’t fully see them. With its undercurrent of absurd mythological humor, the film dances between cringe comedy and aching vulnerability in a pressure-cooker setting.Starring as Alana, Dylan Gelula is an American actress known for her critically acclaimed performance as Maggie, the lead in Cooper Raiff’s “Shithouse,” which won the 2020 Best Narrative Film prize at SXSW. Gelula is also known for her portrayal of rebellious Xanthippe on all four seasons of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and for playing opposite Nicolas Cage as Molly in Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Scenario,” which opened TIFF in 2023. In 2016, Gelula made her film debut as the lead actress with romantic drama film “First Girl I Loved,” directed by Kerem Sanga. The film premiered at Sundance 2016 and won the audience award for Best Of NEXT. She has since appeared in the films “Flower” (Tribeca 2017), “Support the Girls” (SXSW 2018), “Under the Eiffel Tower” (Berkshire International 2018), “Her Smell” (TIFF 2018), and other celebrated independent films, as well as hit TV shows including HBO’s Emmy-winning “Hacks” and Apple TV’s Emmy-nominated “Loot.”
CAST
TEAM
WRITER-DIRECTOR — Al Karr
PRODUCER — Kate Golding
Kate Golding is a creative executive at Topic Studios. Her credits include Jordan Firstman’s directorial debut CLUB KID (A24), SPLITSVILLE (NEON) directed by Michael Covino and starring Dakota Johnson, and THEATER CAMP (Searchlight) directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and starring Molly and Ben Platt. Previously, she worked in Media Rights at Anonymous Content and as a Production Assistant on Mindy Kaling’s THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS.
PRODUCER — Pan Up (Hannah Alline, Robert Ravenscroft)
Pan Up’s narrative works have screened at top-tier festivals worldwide including SXSW, TIFF, and Fantasia. From the Pan Up team, Robert Ravenscroft and Hannah Alline will helm our on-the-ground production, and run production services.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER — Ari J. Lisner
Ari J. Lisner is a producer, writer, and consumer researcher in New York City. In 2025, he received the Simbelle Productions Career Advancement Grant, through which we worked with Sundance alum J. Casey Modderno on her forthcoming debut feature HERE FOR THE WEEKEND. His writing has appeared in GQ, Bright Wall/Dark Room, The Brooklyn Rail, and two published chapbooks.
CINEMATOGRAPHER — Brennan Vance
Brennan Vance is a filmmaker born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His Emmy-winning cinematography has been featured on HBO, Netflix, PBS, NBC, and Starz, and he has shot three of Al’s prior films.
ADVISORS — filmscience
filmscience is an Emmy Award winning production company that has produced over 20 features since its inception in 2005. These films include Kelly Reichardt’s THE MASTERMIND, SHOWING UP, and WENDY AND LUCY; Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE, GREEN ROOM, and BLUE RUIN; Macon Blair’s I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE; Joe Swanberg’s HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS; Ritesh Batra’s PHOTOGRAPH. They’ve screened at festivals around the world–including Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Toronto, Sundance and Telluride–and have been nominated for numerous Independent Spirit Awards.
CASTING DIRECTOR — Aaron Schoonover
Aaron Schoonover is a filmmaker and casting director. Recent credits include SEVERANCE (Apple TV), WTF IS MY PASSWORD (dir. Steve Pink), FLYOVER (dir. Jackie! Zhou), CITY ON FIRE (Apple TV), THE UNHEARD (Shudder), and THE SEEDING (Tribeca ’23).
IMPACT
GENDER PARITY
The 2025 Annenberg Inclusion Initiative reported only 9 of 100 top-grossing films last year were directed by women. On screen, audiences were nearly twice as likely to see male characters than female ones — only a third of speaking parts were female. Our project is written and helmed by non-binary femme and women creators and producers, and the film stars a dynamic ensemble of authentic and complex women.
LGBTQIA+ REPRESENTATION
In 2023, GLAAD reported only 28% of films from major studios featured an LGBTQIA+ character, and more than half of those characters had less than five minutes on screen. Few features are set in Minnesota, and even fewer champion a LGBTQIA+ protagonist. Helmed by queer creatives and producers, NOTHING TO HIDE centers queer folks in production, cast, and representation.
MINNESOTA’S ECONOMY
The production of NOTHING TO HIDE will bring $750K to Minnesota, whose arts communities and economy are recovering from the 2026 ICE surge. Eldest Daughter is committed to recruiting LGBTQIA+ crew, local non-profit Quorum will help identify queer businesses (e.g. craft services), and OutFront MN and PFund are project allies.
YOUTH FELLOWSHIP
In partnership with Queerspace and FilmNorth, with financial support from the MN Women’s Foundation, we’re excited to offer Minnesota-based LGBTQ+, girls/women, and nonbinary creatives aged 16-24 the opportunity to gain film industry experience on the upcoming production of Minnesota-based feature film Nothing To Hide. This opportunity will give emerging filmmakers hands-on learning in production and post-production, allowing participants to develop new skills, and contribute meaningfully on a feature film set.
FISCAL SPONSOR
FilmNorth’s mission is to empower artists to tell their stories, launch and sustain successful careers, and advance The North as a leader in the national network of independent filmmakers. We achieve our mission by nurturing a vibrant, diverse community of film and media artists; providing education and resources at every stage of their careers; and celebrating their achievements. Learn more about donating here.