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Dominic Hendrikz

@dhendrikz

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Having spent the majority of my adolescence in this trailer park, at eighteen I was hell-bent on getting as far away from here as possible. Two days after graduating high school I moved to Florida, and if you’d have asked me then if I’d ever be back, I can promise the answer would’ve been no.

Yet with years passed and any residual resentment for this town shed, I’ve become acutely aware of how much of who I am today is because of this very park, and that despite everything, it’s the only place that’s ever truly felt like home.

So in this episode of “H0w HaRd C0uLd 1t bE??” renovating an abandoned trailer in my childhood lot felt like a brilliant idea. Now more than a year in, this ‘3-month fixup’ has become a never-ending saga of demolition, dump runs, and a straight up fucked amount of tiling.

There’s still a ways to go before my 70’s trailer-park-palace is complete, but cheers to chewing through it, and to slowly becoming the naked chihuahua lady from my youth who once resided in this very home. I vow to continue repping trashy acrylics and a shortage of clothing in your honor.

And (side tangent) while I understand the frustration towards nepotism within the arts & resentment toward trust fund kids getting to pursue their dreams on daddy’s dollar… It’s simultaneously beautiful to recognize that when man is privileged enough to think beyond survival, the human spirit, unchained from fear of destitution, is often drawn towards the arts, with so many of us feeling called to create something beautiful in this life.

Not only has fixing up this trailer become an art project itself, feeding my own innate desire to create beauty, but living here has afforded me the freedom to continue making art and to be present with the people I love; the two things I value most.

So thank you to all the hotties, hubbies, and honeys who helped get us here, and to baddie daddy Kane, who may roll his eyes at all my schemes + dreamz, but finds a way to bring them to life every time. I genuinely don’t know how you can fix anything & everything, but I do know that your kind is a waning population & nothing will ever be cooler than competence.

El Camino up next? (Don’t kill me 💋)

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With a few days between us and Trash Baby’s final festival screening, I can’t stop thinking about how lucky we are that this little indie got to live such a big life on the festival circuit.

After the script was named an Academy Nicholl semi-finalist, Trash Baby went on to celebrate its world premiere at SXSW, and from there built up a festival rap sheet that was bigger and badder than we ever could have dreamed.

After taking home an Industry Choice Award, Audience Choice Award, Best Actress Award, and four Best Narrative Feature wins, getting to finish our festival run in my hometown where it all began, with three back-to-back sold-out shows at the very theater where I first fell in love with cinema as a child… Felt poetically perfect.

And as if that wasn’t enough, to walk away from our last festival with a fifth and final Best Narrative Feature win… I don’t know if I’ll ever have the words for that.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who made this experience what it was. Thank you to the cast and crew who rallied behind Trash Baby when it was still just a delusional dream, and to everyone who took a chance on a trailer park kid with no money or name that could easily have been written off as a bad bet.

Thank you to everyone who watched it, programmed it, championed it, bought a ticket, wrote a review, or cheered for us along the way. A supportive community is the only way indie films happen anymore, and we really fucking did that.

⭐️ SXSW
World Premiere ⭐️ Portland Panorama
Best Narrative Feature + Audience Choice ⭐️ Dances With Films
Industry Choice Award ⭐️ Indie Street Film Festival
Official Selection ⭐️ Local Sightings
Best Narrative Feature ⭐️ Carmel International Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature + Best Actress ⭐️ Portland Film Festival
Official Selection ⭐️ Twin Cities Film Fest
Official Selection ⭐️ Eastern Oregon Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature ⭐️ Phoenix Film Festival
Official Selection ⭐️ Ashland Independent Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature

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And just like that, Trash Baby wins Best Narrative Feature at the 25th anniversary of the Ashland Independent Film Festival.

Join us tonight for our final screening at the @varsity.theatre, as we say goodbye to what has been the most magical festival run.

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Well Ashland, the time has come.

This April, Trash Baby will celebrate the final stop of its festival run at the Ashland Independent Film Festival, in the town where it all began. It’s a bittersweet moment to announce the end of this chapter, as making this film has been one of the sweetest and scariest experiences of my life.

While I’m saddened to say goodbye, I’m also excited for what’s to come and to finally celebrate all that this ratchet little film has accomplished alongside the community that made it possible in the first place, as we watch Trash Baby on the big screen for the last time in the very seats where I fell in love with cinema as a child.

So! Throw on your JNCOs and the biggest bling your Claire’s collection can provide, to join me and the rest of the heathens for our final hurrah. We’ll be going out the same way we came in, with a trashy little Y2K bang and we’d love to see you there xx

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Saddies and baddies, rejoice.

Winter’s on its last cigarette - and with spring comes the return of festival season.

First stop of 2026: Phoenix, Arizona!

Proud to announce Trash Baby will be celebrating its Arizona premiere at the @phoenixfilmfestival in April as part of their highlighted series with the @thepopcornlist.

Buckle up, baby - we’re heading to the desert xx

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HOLY HELL - THAT’S THE 2026 KICKOFF ENERGY I’M TALKING ABOUT.

Dumbfounded that this is real, but The Popcorn List just published their 25 films of 2025 and named TRASH BABY as one of their 12 Narrative Feature selects for this year’s lineup!

For those unfamiliar, The Popcorn List is an annual roundup of independent films curated by festival programmers across North America - spotlighting their favorite films that do not have distribution (yet 😉).

While I’d obviously love to not be on this list (lol), I’m absolutely honored. The validation as an indie filmmaker that @trashbabyfilm is resonating with festival audiences and programmers alike is second to none.

Thank you for the visibility @substack @thepopcornlist @indiewire and shout out to our cast and crew for quite frankly… pulling off a miracle with little more than some Four Loko and delusion.

SO CHEERS!

To making art that matters, being de-lu-lu, and shooting your shot in this weird thing we call life. Let’s make this the trend for 2026 - I’ll go first:
 @netflix - u up?

💋💋💋

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And fun was had by all.

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A sold-out show, encore screening - and now Trash Baby wins Best Narrative Feature at @nwfilmforum.

Seattle… you trying to steal our heart or something??

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FFFKLF?!KdeF57®†8IW#!!!??

We are… Lucky little assholes. Thank you @eofilmfest for bestowing Trash Baby with the honorary title of Best Narrative Feature. I didn’t think we could have loved our Eastern Oregon experience more.

Also, big congrats to @kenziebruce_photo for taking home Best Documentary with Firebreak, the win is beyond deserved.

#oregonfilm #independent #trashbaby

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Whip out the Ed Hardy and crack open a Four Loko, because Trash Baby is headed to @twincitiesfilmfest for their Sweet Sixteen party!

Tickled pink that our early-2000s coming-of-age film got the invite to what’s shaping up to be Twin Cities’ biggest, boldest festival yet.

To all our Minnesotans: don’t miss your chance to join Stevie and Edie on their messy, magical ride through girlhood this October 16–25th in St. Louis Park!

Muah muah, Minnesota 💋

#TrashBaby #90minutesinheaven #TCFF

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🎉 TRASH BABY’S GOING TO JERSEY 🎉
 We’re delighted to announce that Trash Baby will be celebrating her New Jersey premiere at the 10th Anniversary Indie Street Film Festival!

For all our Jersey and NYC friends looking to catch the chaos in theaters, Trash Baby will be screening TUES, AUG 19 @ 8PM ET in Red Bank, NJ | @indiestfilmfest

Tell your friends, tell your exes, tell your garbage man. It’s time to get trashy on the east coast, baby.

#TrashBabyFilm #ISFF2025 #IndieStreetFilmFestival #IndieFilm #OregonMade #SupportIndieFilm

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Yeah… we can’t believe it either.

As corny as it sounds, we’re feelin’ absolutely blessed by the unhinged festival ride Trash Baby is on - and our trashy lil’ team couldn’t be more thankful to everyone who’s welcomed our film into their cities with open arms.

From celebrating our world premiere at @sxsw, to taking home Best Narrative Feature and the Audience Choice Award at @pdxpanorama, and then heading to Hollywood this past weekend for our California premiere at @danceswithfilms where we bagged the Industry Choice Award - it all feels like a dream.

Cherry on top? Coming home to find out Trash Baby is officially crashing the @carmelintfilmfest party this October, which is home to our very own @elijahcarnazzo 💞

Thank you, universe.

Can’t wait for another excuse to get the homies together and celebrate independent filmmaking by the sea.

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