Peter, a flamboyantly gay, relentlesly bitter, and chronically down-on-his-luck little person living in New York City, is woken one morning by an unexpected knock on the door; it’s his upstairs neighbor Winona, an oppresively upbeat, free-spirited sex worker he has barely ever spoken to. She asks Peter if she can borrow his car for a couple of days — after all, he is too small to drive it himself. Unemployed and desperate for cash, he reluctantly agrees to accompany Winona on her mysterious road trip. Their destination soon becomes clear: Convinced that she was abducted by aliens as a child, Winona believes that it is time for her to return to their advanced intergalactic society. But doing so means being at the right spot in three days time, nearly 3000 miles away.

Their wildly different personalities (plus Peter’s belief that Winona is delusional) grate on each other. But after thought-provoking encounters with teen hicks, cosplay enthusiasts, and fellow UFO believers, the two begin to grow unexpectedly close. Peter comes out of his shell, slowly confronting his fear of dying young — bolstered by a series of bizarre, alien-tinged visions and dreams. However, after being led on and rejected by a handsome stranger at a roadside bar, he sinks back into hopeless, spiteful rage. Winona, on the verge of a breakdown heads out on her own after Peter viciously insults her again.

Realizing how much she has come to mean to him, and that she is the only person in his life who truly cares about his happiness, he follows Winona, apologizes.
At last, they arrive at their destination: A nameless clearing in the woods. Peter expects them to find nothing, but after a few minutes, they are startled by the arrival of fellow “abductees” — all claiming to share Winona’s experience, and waiting to leave the Earth behind. After a stoic farewell, Peter leaves Winona with the group. However, she soon decides that she would rather confront her problems and insecurities here in our world than continue running from them in outer space. She and Peter tearfully reunite, and as they drive away, an impossible light appears in the sky behind them, over the clearing. Neither looks back; for the first time, their vision is genuinely trained on the road ahead.

This is a story about the choices humans must make when faced with challenges in our lives — to run from them, to hide from them, or to accept and manage them.

As a Colombian immigrant living and working in NEW YORK, I am driven to create films about marginalized communities surviving (and thriving) through love and humor. In Unidentified Objects, both of my protagonists are self-described “circles within circles” coping with intersectional oppression. Peter is gay, and also a dwarf; he channels his frustration and chronic pain into sharp-witted fury at a world filled with stupid, judgemental people. Winona is living with mental illness (suggested to be bipolar II) and is a sex worker. She has chosen to cheerfully detach from the world as it exists — her pursuit of an alien abduction represents the urge to leave reality behind. Their lives are rich, complex, and rarely depicted on-screen.

In an era of increasingly subjective realities, these two outsiders learn that they must find a middle-ground in order to exist. The world will not change for them, but they can learn to change themselves, and make peace with their challenges. It’s a platonic love story that reflects my own experiences adapting to a new country, and how the connections in my life push me to become a better person.

A Riceball Films and First Threshold Production
In Association with
Hamilton Skunkwork, Eidetic Industries, VSNY Films And Blue Rabbit Films

DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY
Juan Felipe Zuleta

WRITTEN BY
Leland Frankel

STORY BY
Leland Frankel and Juan Felipe Zuleta

PRODUCED BY
Juan Sebastián Jaimes

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Camilo Monsalve ADFC

PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Sara Millán

EDITED BY
Raphaël Lubczanski

ORIGINAL SCORE BY
Sebastián Zuleta

CASTING BY
Andrew Hecht

COSTUME DESIGNER
Rachel Rumann

POST-PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Juan Diego Estrada