Ella Janes(I)

Ella Addison Janes is an American filmmaker known for her emotionally rich, narratively inventive work that blends offbeat characters, nonlinear timelines, and voiceover-driven storytelling. Her films often explore the quiet intensity of adolescence, identity, and the unspoken language between people. She first gained critical attention with Code Red (2020), a socially charged short film highlighting the disproportionate incarceration of women in Oklahoma. The film set the tone for Janes' early career-unflinching, lyrical, and deeply personal. In 2021, she was named a YoungArts Finalist in Film, and her work has since been celebrated at festivals around the world. Janes is the founder of ur girlfriend's favorite films, a production company aimed at empowering emerging voices in cinema. During the pandemic, she wrote, directed, and shot The First 280 Honest Words of My Life (2022), a confessional coming-of-age film that earned her the Rising Star Award at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth and Best Experimental Film at the All-American High School Film Festival. She continued to gain recognition with Mr. Baxter, The Derivative Outlook on Love From the Perspective of Two Sixteen-Year-Olds (2023), and Happiness in the Palm of Her Hand (2024), each expanding her signature style-introspective, narratively playful, and emotionally grounded. A Merit Trustee Scholar at the University of Southern California, Janes continues to develop her voice while working alongside a new generation of storytellers. Her upcoming films, The Thrilling Adventure of Amos Waters and A Girl, Grown Up (both slated for release in 2026), are highly anticipated and mark a new evolution in her work-at once bolder, more expansive, and deeply human.