Freddy Macdonald (born October 12, 2000) is a US-Swiss film director,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

.
Freddy Macdonald
' In: vimeo.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024. He is the youngest directing fellow ever accepted to the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

. His critically acclaimed feature film debut ''

Sew Torn ''Sew Torn'' is a 2024 crime film, crime thriller film written, directed and edited by Freddy Macdonald. In the US-Swiss co-production, which is based on a short film of the same name, Eve Connolly plays a seamstress on the verge of bankruptcy. T ...

'' premiered at

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

, and headlined

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

on the Piazza Grande in 2024.
Sew Torn at SXSW 2024
' In: sxsw.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
Sew Torn in the Locarno Lineup
' In: thehollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.

Life and career

Freddy Macdonald was born in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.
Freddy Macdonald.
' In: swissfilms.ch. Retrieved April 4, 2024. Macdonald's six-minute short film ''Sew Torn'', which he made as part of his application for film school in 2019, was acquired by

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

and qualified for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

after a theatrical release nationwide alongside '' Ready or Not''.Tracy Palmer:
SXSW 2024 Sew Torn Interview – Director Freddy MacDonald Explains His Incredible Vision, His Amazing Stars, And That Mettler Thread.
' In: signalhorizon.com. Retrieved April 4, 2024. Executive produced by

winner

Peter Spears Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' (2020), and for producing ...

, it was watched by

Joel Coen Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) is an American filmmaker. Working alongside his brother Ethan, the duo have directed, written, edited and produced many feature films, the most acclaimed of which include '' Blood Simple'' (1984), '' ...

who met with Macdonald and advised turning the short into an independent feature.Brian Davids:
Meet Freddy Macdonald, the 23-Year-Old ‘Sew Torn’ Filmmaker Who Dazzled SXSW
' In: The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 14, 2024. That same year, Macdonald signed with

United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...

, and was accepted to the

, becoming the youngest directing fellow ever accepted to the Conservatory.Dino-Ray Ramos:
UTA Signs Writer And Director Freddy Macdonald
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025. His AFI graduating thesis film ''Shedding Angels'' won a

Student Academy Award The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers. Description The awards were originally named the Student Film Awards and were first pres ...

and was shortlisted for a student

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

.
Student Academy Awards Provide 'Momentum' for Young Filmmakers.
' In: voanews.com. Retrieved February 3, 2024.Leo Barraclough:
Playmaker Closes Deals on Thriller 'Sew Torn' Ahead of Sitges Screening (EXCLUSIVE)
' In: variety.com. Retrieved July 19, 2025. The world premiere of his first feature-length film ''

'', which he also edited and co-wrote with his father Fred Macdonald, took place at

in March 2024. The

feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...

is an expansion of the

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

of the same name, and was directed by Macdonald when he was 21 years old.Gregory Wakeman:
The Advice From Joel Coen That Landed This Young Filmmaker at SXSW
' In: filmfreeway.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025. It went on to headline

on the Piazza Grande, and was an official selection at numerous festivals including

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

and

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival that celebrates and awards cinematography and cinematographers. The festival is held in Toruń, Poland, at the end of November every year. It spans the cou ...

.
Sew Torn
' In: camerimage.pl. Retrieved July 15, 2025. The feature film was acquired for North American distribution by

Vertigo Releasing Vertigo Films is a British independent TV and Film production company founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson and joined a few years later by current CEO and partner, Jane Moore. The company has produced and distributed over 50 fe ...

and

Sunrise Films Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the Su ...

, and had a theatrical release in May 2025. Zac Ntim:
SXSW & Locarno Title ‘Sew Torn’ Lands North American Distribution Deal
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved June 14, 2025. It received widespread critical acclaim and was positively reviewed and featured in

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

Mashable Mashable is a Online newspaper, news website, digital media platform and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2004. Early iterations o ...

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

, and

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...

, among others.Tim Molloy:
How Sew Torn Director Freddy MacDonald Made His Feature Debut at 24 — With Advice From Joel Coen
' In: moviemaker.com. Retrieved June 2, 2025.Damon Wise:
‘Sew Torn’ Review: Freddy Macdonald’s Strange, Striking Neo-Noir Is A Great Discovery – SXSW
' In: deadline.com. Retrieved August 20, 2024.Guy Lodge:
Sew Torn Review: A Stitch in Time Saves None in This Loopy Crime Comedy
' In: variety.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.Kristy Puchko:
'Sew Torn' review: 'Pushing Daisies' meets 'Run Lola Run'
' In: mashable.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.Sheila O'Malley:
Sew Torn Review
' In: rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 11, 2025.Chase Hutchinson:
'Sew Torn' Review: This Tangled, Twisty Thriller Is a Dark Delight , SXSW 2024
' In: collider.com. Retrieved March 22, 2024. The Hollywood Reporter described Macdonald as a "wunderkind" and "the filmmaker who dazzled SXSW", Collider called him "one of the most exciting new directors out there", and Variety stated he "may well be the next big thing."Perri Nemiroff:
This 23-Year-Old Is One of the Most Exciting New Directors Out There
' In: collider.com. Retrieved April 12, 2025. In July 2025, ''Sew Torn'' was awarded Certified Fresh status on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, with a 95% rating.
Sew Torn
' In: rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

*
Freddy Macdonald on SWISSFILMS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Freddy 2000 births Living people Mass media people from Los Angeles Filmmakers from California