DOC - I’m Not Your Grandma
Documentary Short
Title: I’m Not Your Grandma
TRT: 00:18:00
Project Status: In Production
Logline
At 92, a New York stand-up comedian continues to perform, delivering explicit and disarming material that challenges expectations around age, identity, and desire.
Synopsis
At 92, D’yan Forest performs stand-up comedy in New York, delivering material that is sharp, explicit, and often at odds with audience expectations.
I’m Not Your Grandmother moves between stage and everyday life, observing a woman who came into parts of her identity later in life and continues to reshape it in public. Her performances provoke laughter, but also reveal tension—between how she is seen and how she understands herself.
As moments of humor give way to quieter reflections, the film traces a life shaped by delayed transformation, evolving relationships, and the ongoing pursuit of recognition. Rather than constructing a traditional biography, the film remains grounded in the present, where performance and private experience begin to overlap.
D’yan continues to write, rehearse, and perform, navigating aging, memory, and loss while maintaining an active creative life. The film does not resolve these tensions, but stays within them—presenting a portrait of someone still in motion, still working, and still becoming.
Additional Project Info
I’m Not Your Grandmother began through a personal connection rather than a planned project. D’yan and I initially met and bonded informally within the New York community, and only after building trust did the idea of filming emerge.
The film was produced with a small, focused team, allowing for a close and flexible process. Particular care was taken to work at D’yan’s pace—keeping shoot days short and adapting to her energy—so that the film could be shaped collaboratively without imposing external demands.
The project reflects an ongoing interest in character-driven storytelling that sits between performance and lived experience. Rather than framing D’yan as an exception or novelty, the film focuses on contradiction: humor alongside vulnerability, visibility alongside invisibility, and a life that continues to evolve in a space where it is often expected to settle.
Team
Written and Directed by Nim Shapira
Producers: Nim Shapira, Antony Hatchuel, Noa Osheroff
Cinematography by
Antony Hatchuel
Edited by
Nim Shapira
Antony Hatchuel
Seeking
Distribution, festival exposure, and connections to producing partners and sales agents.
Rights Available
All rights available
Project Website
Contact
Nim Shapira