SUPERFAKE
Aphrodite Armstrong, River Gallo
Financial support from The FOFIF x NEON to support hiring department heads.
About the project: SUPERFAKE is a 12-minute comedy about a trans girl in L.A. who thinks she’s found the perfect man—until she discovers he’s married and gave her a fake designer bag. Her high-camp fantasy spirals into a surreal meltdown as she’s humiliated at work, confronts the truth in a crab shack bathroom, and goes feral in front of his wife. Told in fast, punchy vignettes, SUPERFAKE blends meme humor, absurd visuals, and tonal whiplash to explore how trans women are conditioned to chase fake ideals of femininity—and what happens when we stop.
About the filmmaker (writer): Aphrodite Armstrong is an actress, writer, and comedian from Los Angeles, CA. She is featured in FOX Tideline’s sex worker mob thriller PONYBOI (dir. Esteban Arango), which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature at NewFest 2024.
Aphrodite is the recipient of the 2022 South by Southwest Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for her role in WEST BY GOD (dir. Scott Lazer), which premiered at the Berlinale and had its U.S. debut at SXSW. Armstrong also earned a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for her work on stage in Roger Q. Mason’s California Story, commemorating outstanding storytelling that celebrates L.A.’s cultural history.
Aphrodite holds a BFA in Drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and trained in improv and sketch comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade LA. As a stand-up comedian, she has performed at venues across L.A., including The Hollywood Improv, The Roosevelt, Haha Comedy Club, Three Clubs, Fourth Wall, Glendale Room, and Hotel Cafe.
About the filmmaker (director): River Gallo (they/them) is a Salvadoran-American filmmaker, actor, writer, model, and intersex activist born and raised in New Jersey. Gallo is the star and co-writer of FOX Tideline’s neo-noir film PONYBOI, which will be released theatrically on June 27, 2025. PONYBOI made cinema history by being the first narrative feature created by and starring an out intersex artist. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. PONYBOI is based on Gallo’s 2019 short film of the same name that was executive produced by Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry, and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2023, Gallo was the subject of the critically-acclaimed documentary feature EVERY BODY, directed by Academy-award nominee Julie Cohen. They were also a directing mentee of Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative, shadowing episodes of AMERICAN HORROR STORY: DELICATE. Prior to that, Gallo directed advertising spots for Facebook, Maison Margiela, and has modelled for Crocs. Gallo made the 2023 OUT 100 list and won a GLAAD Rising Star Media Award for their work in the arts and social justice issues. In 2023, Gallo was also named one of the 10 LGBTQIA+ Film and TV Creators on the Rise by Indiewire.
Aphrodite Armstrong Instagram | River Gallo Instagram & Website