Fantasy A Gets a Mattress (David Norman Lewis & Noah Zoltan Sofian, 2023)

David Norman Lewis, Noah Zoltan Sofian | 2023 | USA | 79’ | no subtitles

We at Filmhuis Cavia love the weird, the unusual and the experimental, so Fantasy A Gets a Mattress immediately seemed made for us! We are proud to give this little jewel of modern American indie cinema a first theatrical release in the Netherlands. Fantasy A Gets a Mattress is just unique in so many ways – the story told is that of Fantasy A, a real-life self-described autistic rapper from Seattle, who decides that, in order to achieve his dream to make it big in hip hop, he first has to get a good night's sleep. Through his journey to get a comfy bed, he has to hustle his way past a slew of wack and weird characters, who would like to crush his dreams, allowing the film to touch on a variety of themes including hip hop, radical urban change, disability, the housing crisis, artistic ambition, and what it takes to break through. Produced on an extremely tight budget over four years, the film still managed to create something really special, with beautiful shots and a unique cinematography accompanying a modern story about hustling in an unkind world.