eleanore & nadine
written and directed by Eleanore Pienta
Eleanore & Nadine is a funny, heartwarming and cinematic story about Eleanore’s friendship with her alter ego Nadine, and how together they help cure Eleanore’s intense social anxieties.
When in her apartment, Eleanore is happy and comfortable in her own skin. But like so many of us after periods of isolation, when she steps outside, she shrinks and New York City envelops her.
Every Tuesday and Friday, Eleanore puts on a bad wig, even worse make-up and a southern
accent and becomes Nadine, who is confident and undaunted by the world. Nadine cheers Eleanore on as we see her start to push herself outside her comfort zone, and into a romantic relationship.
With the use of physical humor, production design and cinematic tropes, Eleanore achieves a refreshing comedy tone, designed to appeal to the hearts of audiences from all ages/backgrounds.
Eleanore Pienta is one of the most exciting new filmmakers to come out of NYC. Her directorial debut, Ada, premiered at the New York Film Festival 2018. Her second short, Master Of The House, premiered at The New/Next Film Festival 2024.
“Every human is broken, it’s a given. But it’s what we do with, because of, or in spite of the brokenness that makes each one of us singular and exciting.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve made up characters. In college, I started photographing them, a la Cindy Sherman and then would explore them through video. In creating these characters I could become somebody else, sometimes in order to hide a part of myself, but often, and to my surprise, the characters would out a part of me that I couldn’t fully embody.
“Eleanore & Nadine is an exploration of what happens when you fully mask yourself in order to be fully comfortable existing.”
Eleanore Pienta, April 2025
Written & Directed by ELEANORE PIENTA.
Weaving in and out of the independent film world, Eleanore Pienta has carved out a niche for herself by portraying uncompromising and complex characters, her presence on screen is at once alluring albeit menacing. Filmmaker Magazine called her role as Mona in SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY: “…one of the most original, indelible, infuriating and truly felt movie characters in some time, a sister to Loden’s WANDA and Rowlands’ A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE…” Pienta’s directorial debut, ADA, premiered at the New York Film Festival and she can be seen performing with collaborators Sunita Mani and Tallie Medel as Cocoon Central Dance Team, and together created the cult-classic SNOWY BING BONGS ACROSS THE NORTH STAR COMBAT ZONE.
ADA - SHORT FILM - https://www.eleanorepienta.org/#/ada/
MASTER OF THE HOUSE - SHORT FILM - https://vimeo.com/1008886250/142da3c3f0?ts=0&share=copy
OLIVIA WINGATE (WINGATE MEDIA) - Producer
Olivia has developed and produced numerous TV projects including MARON (IFC) which ran for four seasons, BOBCAT GOLDTHWAITS MISFITS & MONSTERS (Tru TV), as well as numerous standup specials. Olivia produced THE MIRANDA OBSESSION, a scripted audible series written by Jen Silverman and starring Rachel Brosnahan in 2022, which was rated #1 podcast globally and is in development as a documentary feature with Imagine Documentaries. In film, Olivia produced the documentary feature IT STARTED AS A JOKE which premiered at SXSW2019, and WE STRANGERS a debut feature by Anu Valia which premiered at SXSW2024. Next on the slate are features by Samuel D Hunter, Stephen Belber and Bobcat Goldthwait with many more in development. www.wingate.media
KIVA REARDON - Producer
Kiva Reardon is a producer, writer, and curator working across fiction and non-fiction. Past credits include: Sorry, Baby (A24), Now, Hear Me Good (Criterion), and the forthcoming Future Tense. Previously, she held the positions of: Vice President of Film at Barry Jenkins’s production company PASTEL; Associate Director of Film Programs at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures; and Lead Programmer of Contemporary World Cinema at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). https://www.kivareardon.com/
Also attached:
GAYLE KELLER - Director of Casting
ASHLEY CONNOR - Director of Photography