How Camila Mendes and Anna Baryshnikov Brought Reality TV Realness to SXSW Comedy ‘Idiotka’
For their “Project Runway” send-up “Idiotka,” Camila Mendes and Anna Baryshnikov bring reality television to the big screen in a love letter to the genre.
“We really tried to enjoy the satirical aspects but also really dig into the fact that this is an art form, and people care very deeply about making good entertainment,” Baryshnikov told TheWrap. “We were trying to strike the balance of respecting and being fans of the medium and also skewering some of how it puts people under the spotlight in an uncomfortable way.”
“What the film ends up saying is that even the world of fashion is about entertainment, to an extent. They want spectacle, you know? This is like where film meets fashion, where entertainment meets fashion,” Mendes added. “There are parts of it that both of us really resonate with, this idea of identity in the public eye and trying to carve out a path for yourself. But also, both of us are familiar with the fashion world through what we do, so there’s plenty of fun to be had there satirizing both industries.”
“There are a lot of similarities of how hard it is when you first start out. I have so many friends across artistic mediums who are trying to get their name out there really desperately, so it felt kind of accessible,” Baryshnikov continued. “Fashion is almost harder because you need a lot of materials and a lot of money to make your work in the beginning. It’s just incredibly challenging.”
The satire premiered at SXSW in 2025 and expands to select cities this weekend through Utopia. Per the official synopsis, “In this sharp, irreverent comedy, a disgraced fashion designer with a dangerously low credit score, Margarita (Baryshnikov) enters a reality show with a six-figure cash prize to save her babushka’s West Hollywood apartment. But as the competition intensifies, slick producer Nicol (Mendes) pushes her to spin her family’s struggle into spectacle, forcing Margarita to decide whether to play along or take control of her own narrative, one unhinged look at a time.”
“I remember when I was starting to enter the industry, Instagram was only really becoming a thing for actors. We all already had one, but it wasn’t this platform for actors to show off their career highlights and whatnot. That was something I feel like I was learning in real time, because I remember I didn’t even know if I wanted to be on social media in the beginning of my career because I couldn’t really think of any actors I look up to who had social media,” Mendes further shared. “Cut to 10 years later, it’s like you kind of have to have one, and it also gives you so much autonomy over how you want to be perceived and how you want to express yourself artistically.”
The actresses also revealed which reality shows are their personal favorites.
“That era of competition-based reality TV — ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ ‘Project Runway’ — those I really loved, and now I love ‘Love Island,'” Baryshnikov said, while Mendes added, “That’s my answer: ‘Love Island,’ now; growing up, ‘Simple Life.’ I feel like I watched that way younger than I should have been, but they had a huge influence on my sense of humor because I feel like those two were comedic geniuses together.”
However, neither of them ever considered doing reality TV themselves.
“Growing up, one of my friends was dating someone who was on ‘NYC Prep’ and that concept really blew my mind, because it was kind of early days. I feel like reality TV has evolved so much,” Baryshnikov said, “but no, I think I would do really badly on any one.”
Plus, art imitates life in this one as well, as Mendes is a producer both on and behind the camera: “It felt very cohesive for me, because I’m playing the role of a producer. I literally wouldn’t take off my headset, like the headset that you see in the movie is the headset I was using in between takes to watch. So it didn’t really feel that difficult, because it was just an extension of what I was doing on set every day, even when I wasn’t on camera. So that part felt very organic.”
Directed by Nastasya Popov in her feature film debut, the iconic cast also includes Owen Thiele, Benito Skinner, Saweetie, Julia Fox, Gabbriette, Zack Bia, Shaun Brown, Marcelo Tubert, Jake Choi and Gigi Zumbado, as well as Mark Ivanir, Galina Jovovich, Nerses Stamos and Ilia Volok.
“This is a dream, it was so much fun. The way we shot, we had spent a few weeks with the family and some people hadn’t arrived yet. So when we went to shoot the show and Julia and Benny and Owen and Saweetie walked in, I felt like they walked in in slow-motion,” Baryshnikov teased. “They really brought the celebrity presence that I think was important, but they were all so generous and so funny. I’ve never not been able to get through a take and, truly, I see a moment in my performance in the movie that I’m just holding my face because they were so unbelievably funny.”
“They’re incredible improvisers, we could just let the camera roll and they would do their thing and you can tell they were having fun,” Mendes echoed. “I honestly just feel so blessed that they agreed to do this and be a part of this film, and that they were willing to poke fun at themselves a little bit and play these larger-than-life characters, because I feel like without that, the reality TV show world wouldn’t have been as exciting and they really took it there. It was one of my favorite parts of the film.”
“Idiotka” is now playing in select cities.
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