Noelle, an art student struggling to find her voice, is sexually assaulted by a fellow classmate. Attempting to cope with her trauma, she impulsively confronts her attacker, leading to a violent altercation that culminates in his accidental death. Noelle tries to return to normalcy, but when she discovers that she is only one of many sexual assault survivors on campus, she takes justice into her own hands. A vigilante is born – retribution is the inspiration she’s been waiting for.

“Not since THE ACCUSED has a movie perfectly captured a topic as toxic as M.F.A. does here, and no film at SXSW this year moved me as passionately to push a conversation forward as much as this one. Anchored by a genre-defying performance from Francesca Eastwood, M.F.A. deserves to land at the top of your must-see list.” (Aaron B. Peterson, The Hollywwod Outsider)

“We need to open the doors to discussions about rape and rape culture, so that we can begin to reconcile our collective past and create a future without amnesia. If MFA can act as a catalyst to these conversations, then all of the hard work we put into it will be worth it.” (Natalia Leite)

Natalia Leite is a writer/director/actress, born in Sao Paulo/Brazil. Her feature film debut BARE premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. She often deals with sexuality in her work, which has been described as “having emotional intelligence and sensitivity” (Los Angeles Times) and as “cementing the reign over highly stylized and sexually progressive dramas” (Slate). She is a frequent contributor to Vice Media, creating original content like the provocative Vice show, “Every Woman” where she documented her experience working in a truck-stop strip club. Her work has been featured in The Sunday Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue, among other publications. Furthermore, she has been a featured speaker for NY Women In Film & Television.