SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW: Despite the warning at the beginning, nothing will prepare you for the geometric shock corridor of the computer-animated short Bootstrapping For The Boobied, by filmmaker Stella Chen. Amber Wu (Stella Chen) is so tired that she can’t sleep. She is burnt out to the max, while being non-stop h***y. Her roommate (Sharada Venkateswaran) keeps asking her to Venmo her half of the pizza they ordered last night.
Amber’s broke a*s has nothing to Venmo, so she asks if it can wait until she gets paid at the end of the week. All they can afford to eat is pizza, as groceries are so expensive. After her classic computer animation class, Amber reaches out for the advice of an online self-help superstar (Keaton Jordan). Amber begins to evolve her persona in the most peculiar ways, before the real her is finally unleashed…
A vibrant still from Stella Chen’s 2026 Slamdance Film Festival short Bootstrapping For The Boobied. The image showcases the film’s angular, old-school 3D computer animation style, featuring protagonist Amber Wu inside a surreal neon environment filled with sharp geometric shapes and exaggerated perspective.
“Amber’s broke a*s has nothing to Venmo…”
Bootstrapping For The Boobied is animated by Chen with one of the oldest of the newer formats: old school computer 3D graphics. It is very much the same style of imagery found in the Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” video. All the figures are made with straight line work only, giving everyone this cool, cubist, angular composition. You can see why Chen is drawn to working in this ancient format, as it is both abstract and profoundly illustrative.
The audience first feels the full impact of the angles when Amber smashes an electric back massager into her digital vulva. Objects profane and mundane are presented through the same computer lens, intensifying the way the outrageous pops. Chen unleashes raw, rampaging ID in an extra zesty fashion, all while looking Max Headroom to the nines. Ever since watching it, I have been repeating Chen’s final lines non-stop, like they were from a Schwarzenegger movie (it’s kinda freaking my wife out). Bootstrapping For The Boobied will invade the space in your head, while going all Pac-Man on your lap.
Bootstrapping For The Boobied screened at the Slamdance Film Festival.
"…will invade the space in your head, while going all Pac-Man on your lap."
