Tribeca: “The Rebirth” Looks at Abortion Rights through Thriller/Fantasy Lens
We are at another point in American history when abortion rights are under attack. Connie Shi’s short film, having its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Festival as part of the Shorts: NY Off Peak program, takes this contemporary moment and examines it through a supernatural lens. It’s a project that Shi is in almost complete control of as writer, director, actor, editor, and producer. The Rebirth is a taut little thriller about the side effects of the lack of accessible abortion care.
The film opens with Hana (Shi) sitting in her car outside the bar where she works. She’s on the phone with a friend and in her hand is a pill. It’s a black-market abortion pill she’s hesitant about taking. At her friend’s encouragement, Hana takes it and clocks into work because her boss refused to approve her time off. As her shift progresses, strange side effects begin to appear and Hana tries to manage her body to make it to her clockout time. As much as The Rebirth is a commentary about abortion access, it’s equally as concerned with workers’ rights and the mistreatment of minimum-wage employees.
The Rebirth is a loaded title. On the one hand, because I describe it as supernatural, your mind likely wanders down a particular path based on that and the short’s title. One might imagine rebirth in a literal sense, but it becomes clear that Shi’s intentions are much more figurative. Women push themselves down to fit into nice, neat boxes. To make themselves smaller and out of the way, to cause the least amount of problems possible. The titular rebirth in Shi’s short is a reclamation of the main character’s body in every sense of the word. It is her choice on her terms. Not just about her pregnancy, but with her work and the way people talk to her. She is given a sense of confidence that has clearly been lacking in the past. The Rebirth is about ownership of the self and all that entails.
The goals of The Rebirth are quite lofty. It’s a lot to tackle in an 11-minute runtime. Because it’s interested in looking at abortion access, mistreatment of low-wage workers, and the horrors of working retail, there’s a sense that there’s more to be said about Hana. Should Shi choose to expand the short into a feature project, it’s clear that there’s a wealth of concepts to explore. In this short version, though, the audience is still granted a balm of sorts. A sense of contentment for the future of Hana as the credits roll.
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