December 6, 2026 at 2:30:00 PM
AFS Cinema
Honeyjoon
USA, Portugal | Narrative Feature
2026 | 75 mins | English
WINNER: Tribeca AT&T Untold Stories Award
WINNER: SFFilm Rainin Award
WINNER: Audience Award, Top 3 – 2025 Tribeca Festival
A surprisingly sexy, darkly funny, emotional rollercoaster.
In this light-and-dark comedy, June and her Persian-British mother Lela travel to the romantic Azores islands for a grief anniversary, with contrasting ways of coping. A hot philosophical surfer takes them on a tour as we surf the waves of life, loss, flirting… an unforgettable ride.
In her award-winning debut feature, director Lilian T. Mehrel brilliantly transforms grief, desire, and human connection into something electric, introducing a visionary new voice.

Restoration Process
About the Artist

Lilian T. Mehrel is an award-winning writer & director with a visionary sense of feeling and humor.
She is the winner of the Tribeca AT&T Untold Stories Award for her debut feature, Honeyjoon, which premiered at Tribeca. Lilian’s films have also screened at Palm Springs, Sao Paolo Mostra, Clermont-Ferrand, and the AmPav Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes. She was selected for the SFFILM Rainin Grant, TorinoFilmLab ComedyLab, Film Independent Episodic Lab, Sloan Award, Nancy Malone Directing Award, Geri Ashur Screenwriting Award, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, CineQuaNonLab, Film Fatales Episodic Directing Shadow Workshop, TFI Labs with YouTube/Google and Warner Media, and the Marcie Bloom Fellowship.
Lilian earned her MFA from NYU Tisch Grad Film with a PDS Fellowship, and her BA from Dartmouth with a Senior Fellowship. She also enjoys hip hop dance.

Trailer
For English subtitles, make sure to turn on the YouTube closed captions.
Credits
Director:
Lilian T. Mehrel
Writer:
Lilian T. Mehrel
Producer(s):
Andreia Nunes
Lilian T. Mehrel
Film Editor:
Ayden Mayeri
Amira Casar
José Condessa
Thank you to our community partners for this screening!
This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

