Firstness

Directed By Brielle Brilliant

A maladjusted dad is trying to heal in an experimental therapy group called Infinite Beginnings. Meanwhile, his nonbinary kid is getting close with an older man. Their relationship feels both dreamy and concerning--depending on whose watching.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
  • AWARDS
  • PRESS
  • CREDITS
A maladjusted father, his non-binary child Tavi, and a stranger out on parole are all seeking connection in director Brielle Brilliant’s feature debut. When Tavi and the older man begin to form a sweet yet unconventional friendship, they raise concern and suspicion from everyone around them.

PAVLI SERENETSKY fka "Brielle Brilliant" (they/them) is an artist, environmentalist, and educator who makes films, books, and other place-focused experiences. They currently work at The Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, where they guide youth and adults through educational experiences in wildlife restoration sites. Their feature-length films include the soon-to-be-released More Beautiful Perversions (2025), about a disillusioned teenager in the city who ends up in the woods learning about plants, and Firstness (2021), about initial perceptions of characters in the New Mexico desert. Firstness received The Grand Jury Prize at Outfest, was nationally distributed by Gravitas Ventures, and screened at MoMA. Pavli is also the author of The Spud (Featherproof Books) and The Curtsy Family (Thoughtcrime Press). They have been making place-focused films for over a decade, starting with their first apprenticeship with the Film-Makers Cooperative in New York, where Pavli was born and raised, and even at a young age, determined to bring urban characters to nourishing forests. In 2022, alongside Sua Yoo, they co-founded the mutual aid collective Purpose Repair Shop, debuting with a recycling project called ALL DREAMS TAKE PLACE IN THE PARKING LOT, in which vacant parking lots in Los Angeles were re-purposed to serve queer peoples' dreams. They have a BA in Philosophy from Colorado College and a MFA from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Pavli spends most of their time walking, eco-processing 16mm, and looking at old trees.


The Grand Jury Prize for US Narrative Features (Outfest, 2021)

Best Narrative Screenplay (Tacoma, 2021)

""Brielle Brilliant (Pavli Serenetsky), in their stunning feature debut, has made a film so vibrant in its quietness, so intimate and universal, that it reaches out to all of us looking for connection, grounding, and community."
MoMA Film Programmer
""This film starts in an abrupt and electric way that doesn't quite reveal just how calm the rest of it could be - the vibes here are some of the most successfully dialed-in and tender I've seen in a while."
Letterbox
""It's a disarmingly gentle film that challenges us without even a moment of preachiness""
Shadows on the Wall

Actor - Tim Kinsella

Actor - Spencer Jording

Actor - Caleb Cabrera

Actor - Anna Zhang

Director of Photography - Ben Mullen