Every week, Anna Sitar picks a color to wear, grabs a film camera, and goes for a run. She shares photos and a prompt she calls “Happy Headspace” with her virtual run club on Substack, in hopes that it will make their own runs a little more fun. These rituals have turned her TikTok following—now 11.6 million strong—into a community.
Anna hadn’t planned on becoming a TikTok star. But while getting her master’s in film and TV production, she and her classmates started experimenting with ways of documenting their lives that would actually resonate with an audience. It worked.
The forecast called for rain—not ideal for a sunset shoot in L.A. But overcast weather on 16mm film has its own kind of beauty, so we stayed optimistic. As luck would have it, the rain held off and the sun peeked out just as we arrived. Anna emerged from her car in a bright red outfit, a nice contrast to the pale blue sky. We got to tag along on her weekly run, weaving through the crowds of Venice Beach while she talked about the joy of running a marathon, trying to be someone her younger self would look up to, and the importance of knowing when to turn off the camera and just be in the moment.
Tune in next week for another episode of Someone on Film.
