I’ve wanted to be an actress since I was eleven years old. But not just any actress: an undeniably beautiful actress with a perfectly ski-sloped nose like Reese Witherspoon or Julia Roberts. In order to look like them and be considered beautiful by the entire world, I thought I’d have to alter a few things and asked my parents if I could get a nose job when I was seveteen. In today’s social media world, this issue is even more amplified: we constantly compare ourselves to other people, apply filters and face-tune to photoshop away our insecurities, and allow the standard of beauty to be set by celebrities and influencers who are not always honest about how that standard has been reached. It’s nearly impossible to feel good enough. Everyone can relate to that feeling. And if you can’t, I want to know your secret!

Unfortunately, plastic surgeries in which "ethnic features" are altered to appear more European are becoming increasingly popular. Plastic surgery in itself is not a problem, but the erasure of ancestral roots and racial diversity definitely is. Growing up bi-racial, I didn’t understand that my prominent dorsal hump was a gift from my Indian father, and his father before him. Sometimes I still struggle with it, but making this film was my way of celebrating my heritage and my family. “Break/Fix” reminds audiences that differences in beauty are to be celebrated, rather than erased.

Using imagery from the Sanskrit epic “The Ramayana,” as well as an original song composed by my paternal grandmother Karuna Tandon, this extremely personal yet widely universal short film seeks to shed light on beauty standards and bi-racial identity, as well as spark conversations about family and heritage.

Crew bios

Liliana Tandon is an Indian American actress, writer, and producer based in Brooklyn. She is currently in post-production on an adventure-romance feature titled "Discovering Love" (Writer/Lead). She has made two other feature films as a writer/lead: "Harmony in Paradise," which had its network television premiere in 2022 and "A Ring for Christmas," which co-starred Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) and Michael Gross (Family Ties). She is the proud creator of "Period Piece," an award-winning comedic web series that explores women in different periods of history... having their periods. Seasons one and two have over 1.6 million views on YouTube, and the show won Best Original Comedy Web Series on Elizabeth Banks' comedy site WhoHaHa. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
Amanda Pinto is an Ohio-raised, New York-based director, producer, actor, and photographer. After directing and choreographing theater in New York, she began directing on-camera with the web series This Is B.S., which was acquired for streaming and executive produced by Terry Crews. Her short film directorial work includes Break/Fix, Mac & Cheese (winner Best Director, Easterseals Disability Film Challenge), and two upcoming releases. Her producing work includes the short films Cigarettes (currently in development w/ Sundance) and Major (EP Tarell Alvin McCraney), and is currently in pre-production for the indie feature GRIND (dir. Peter Collins Campbell). While in drama school, she began taking headshots of fellow classmates and has since expanded her photography business, Sub/Urban Photography, to include commercial and editorial work. She is a co-founder of Art Nerds & Film Folks, a monthly networking event hosted in her photo studio, featuring up-and-coming visual artists, short film programs, and her favorite wine and snacks. She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.Description text goes here
Maria Fernanda Diez is an actor, producer, and podcaster. She is a trilingual, first generation American born to Mexican parents. Maria Fernanda is a graduate of Columbia University. While growing up mostly in the midwest, she sang with the Minnesota Opera from 10 to 18. As an actor, she has worked with various companies including Two River Theater, The Lark, Teatro LATEA, and The Hangar Theater. The short film DIVR, directed by Zoey Martinson, which Maria Fernanda co-produced and starred in, has been in over 20 festivals across the globe and recently won Best Futuro Webseries at the New York Latino Film Festival. As a writer/performer, creative director and producer she’s worked with local musical artists, GirlBeHeard, Spotify, and various independent projects. Additionally, she is the creator and host of the podcast "When You're Invisible" which is an award winning iHeart Radio and My Cultura Podcasts Network production. When she’s not creating, she is teaching kids of ages and learning new activities like archery, and dancing.
Katherine Castro is a New York City and Boston-based Cinematographer. After studying architecture and photography while living in the Dominican Republic, Katherine returned to Boston in 2008, where she began her career working in film and TV as a Local 600 Camera Assistant. Applying her design and photography background and the invaluable lessons she has acquired over the years working in production, Katherine brings a unique style and viewpoint to her cinematography. She was selected for the inaugural AFI Cinematography Intensive for Women in Los Angeles in 2018.
Katherine has worked in many countries, including Spain, South African, and Peru. Her work spans narrative, music video & documentary. Her projects have recently been screened in film festivals such as Coney Island Film Fest, Woods Hole Film Festival & Asian American International Film Festival in NYC.
Kelvin earned a BA in Lighting Design at AHK/de Theaterschool in Amsterdam and a MA in Design for Stage & Film at NYU Tisch. Since then, he has worked as a designer, art director, and props artisan for theaters and films across the world. Design credits: DelaMar Theater, Brakke Grond, Frascati WG, Rembrandthouse @ MuseumN8 (Amsterdam); Theatre de l’ Opprime (Paris); Ibsen Festival (Norway); Braunschweig Theater (Germany); Access Theater, The Chain Theater, Columbia University (NY). Associate Design: The Public Theater (NY), Humana Festival (KY). Assistant Design: Metropolitan Opera (NY), Frankfurt Oper. Props Artisan: NYU, Colt Coeur (NY), and several independent films. Currently, Kelvin is in the midst of developing the Natural Light Project, a reusable modular theatrical design system that utilizes natural light in the theater space and reduces waste in the field.