Debit Wolf

Friday, April 10, 2020 - Friday, March 5, 2021

Screening online as part of “Wish We Were Here: Shorts by IFC Center Staff”


Chris Shields’s DEBIT WOLF (2015) presents a young woman (Asha Phelps) finding herself undergoing a strange transformation whenever her bank account begins to dwindle. A horror movie for our financially anxious age.


While our theater is closed as part of efforts to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, we’ve taken our signature short film programming online with “Wish We Were Here: Shorts by IFC Center Staff,” a showcase of short documentary, comedy, drama, animated and experimental work by the creators who work as our ushers, floor staff, box office cashiers, managers and projectionists. A different film will be posted to our website every few days, watchable for free. The series is sponsored by subscription streaming service IFC Films Unlimited.


The theater is proud to partner on this new initiative with IFC Films Unlimited, a streaming service from our sister company IFC Films. Although our screens are dark during this temporary closure, IFC Films Unlimited lets audiences discover or revisit hundreds of our favorite films at home or anywhere they can stream, from the movie we opened our doors with, Miranda July’s ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, to IFC Center hits like BOYHOOD, 45 YEARS and THE BABADOOK, along with the work of international auteurs like Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas, Hirokazu Kore-Eda, and many, many more. Free trial subscriptions are available.


“Wish We Were Here” is an evolution of the ongoing “Short Attention Span Cinema” series that was inaugurated with IFC Center’s opening in 2005. Since then, for almost 15 years until our temporary closure on March 13, 2020, SASC has presented great short films before the theater’s regular features, day in and day out. Earlier films in the program are here.

About the filmmakers:


Director Chris Shields is a Manhattan-based writer and filmmaker. He is a contributor to Sight & Sound magazine, Cineaste, Film Comment, and Screen Slate where he writes about horror, avant-garde, and Italian cinema. He is the co-writer of the independent horror film Video Diary of a Lost Girl and the forthcoming Killer Makeover. An occasional actor, he can be seen in Caroline Golum and Dylan Pasture’s dark comedy, Feast of Man (2017). He regularly hosts films for Alamo Drafthouse’s Terror Tuesdays and Weird Wednesdays. Originally from Deltona, Florida, he graduated from University of Central Florida with a BFA in Film. His first big city job was as an usher at IFC Center.

Asha Phelps (lead) is currently the Administrative & Operations Manager at IFC Center, specializing in theater and event operations. In conjunction with her duties at IFC Center, she also works annually with DOC NYC, NYC’s documentary film festival. She was a 2016 participant in the inaugural Industry Academy International U.S., hosted by Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Locarno International Film Festival. She has a BA in Cinema Studies from NYU. Although a Texas native, she currently lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.


  • Year 2015
  • Running Time 15 minutes
  • Director Chris Shields
  • Cast Asha Phelps

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.