Milena Pastreich
Directing
Biography
Milena Pastreich is a Los Angeles-based German-American filmmaker and an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Film Independent’s Documentary Lab, Catapult Film Fund and True/False Film Festival’s Rough Cut Retreat, Women at Sundance, and Women in Film.
Known For

Against the backdrop of New York and New Orleans, Elliott, Leanne and Jermaine question their ability to dream amidst a crumbling economic climate. Opening in the streets of downtown Manhattan, Elliott (23), living at home after college, is surrounded by incomplete projects, frustrated and in search of purpose. Simultaneously, in New Orleans, Leanne (26), an aspiring model/actress and single mother of four, struggles to pick up the pieces, presenting at times a clash between family and her ambitious career. Plagued by an unforgiving criminal record, Jermaine (22), a New Orleans native, shifts through his home town for what seems like a hopeless attempt at legal employment. After a series of rejections, he resolves to reinvent himself in hopes of successfully starting anew.
Below Dreams
The last thing Damian and Pippa want, is to fall in love. Yet when they first look into each other's eyes, love is exactly what happens. So much so that it makes them, and everyone else in the park burst out in song and dance.
Madly In Love

Pigeons do somersaults in mid-flight, and there is a tight-knit community of pigeon breeders and trainers in South Central L.A. devoted to this phenomenon as a competitive sport.
Pigeon Kings
Welcome to the awkward sexually charged silence of teenage life.
I Feel Stupid

Hollow Tree follows three teenagers coming of age in their sinking homeland of Louisiana. For the first time, they notice the Mississippi River’s engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and billowing smokestacks. Their different perspectives — as Indigenous, white, and Angolan young women — shape their story of the climate crisis.
Hollow Tree
Two women sunbathe on their living room floor when an unexpected message flies through the window.
Jean-Paul Luc Sébastien René
Street busker Finn goes dumpster diving and finds herself transported into a wild trash forest populated by a mischievous Yeti that forces her to confront her animal nature.