#repost @tribeca I love mixing dark fantasy worlds with really earnest sensitivity. My dad's an abstract oil painter, and he always really championed me to pursue the arts in any capacity. I grew up painting and drawing, and I wanted to be a visual artist, then I got involved with acting a little bit...then I realized merging the two was filmmaking. I was really little when my mom passed away, but she's the person who introduced me to filmmaking. She was the first person that really inspired me to be a filmmaker. We would watch all of Tim Burton's work. Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish. Corpse Bride was a very, very important movie that made me want to be a filmmaker. In a way, I think it was sort of my mom’s way of preparing me for death and getting accustomed to it. As a little kid, I recognized something that I hope I echoed in my own film, that themes of sensitivity, or grief, or the afterlife, or death - is something that we shouldn't be afraid of. It's something that is very natural and human and something we can embrace. Along the way, hopefully we learn to be proud of one's own sensitivity and speaking our truth. . . . Leaf Lieber (@1eafygreens) is the director, producer, and writer of My Dear Boy premiering this June in #Tribeca2022’s See Me, Feel Me collection of LGBTQ+ Shorts. Learn more at the link in bio. 📸 @melinda_moraless