Maxfield Biggs
Directing
Biography
Hailing from the Bay Area, Maxfield Biggs is a filmmaker, animator, editor, and film festival judge. They're also the co-owner of the production house and artist collective, Stranded Astronaut, which centers climate storytelling and experimental filmmaking. They started their career in the indie film scene of Brooklyn, and produce video art, documentaries, shorts, narratives, travel series, and animations in Southern California. Regardless of genre or audience, Max's work tends towards topics like the Anthropocene, ecological preservation and discovery, intersectional identities, and critiques of Western Industrialism.
Known For
An obsessed engineer and their unlucky friend discover the price of creation when plastic becomes the consumer. A modern twist on the classic creature horror genre, Out of Plastic explores the will of humanity to find permanence on Earth - through whatever means necessary. Since the first synthetic plastic created by Leo Baekeland in 1907, engineers have searched for ways to improve and expand on plastic. In this horror short, an engineer takes on the ultimate mission - replicating the immortality of plastics into a living organism.
Out of Plastic
In this short documentary, Gen Z'ers from around the globe talk about how climate change affects their mental health, life choices, & their visions for the future. The Gen Z'ers featured in this documentary are climate ambassadors in their community, fighting against the government for their rights and finding joy through community action.
Gen Z Mental Health: Climate Stories
Laurel Tamayo’s family lost their multigenerational home in the 2023 Lahaina wildfire, the deadliest wildfire in modern US history. Through personal recounts, this documentary paints an intimate portrait of survival and community resilience in a climate emergency.
Healing Lahaina
An animated poem about a dog, her human, and the consequences of a nasty habit.
Dog Years
On Christmas night, after discovering her mother reading her diary, Teresa runs away from home and is left with nowhere to go. Now in solitude, with her secret crush on her best friend exposed, Teresa divulges her fear and shame.
Mañana negra
Comprised entirely of archival footage from U.S. propaganda and home videos sourced from the public domain, this film is an open letter to the place of dreams - what it has been, and what it could be. The associated poem, “Dreamland,” addresses the complicated history of the role American idealism played in covering up global decimation. There is a communal longing for a simpler time, but what does that time actually refer to? How can we remember and examine the past to forge a better future?