When my friend Whitney added me to her ABC’s of Quarantine Film Festival lineup in March, I was excited and then immediately thought about the things I didn’t have: a camera, sound equipment, access to other people, fancy skills or experience “like everyone else”...I wanted to make something but figured I probably couldn’t. Then for some reason on May 20th, I decided to think about what I did have: an idea, my cousin’s house to myself for the day, an iPhone and some editing capabilities, and then I just went for it. I learned some new things like: creative endeavors don’t have to come with ~ideal circumstances~ to be worth your time/effort/attention. My letter was W and the only rule was it had to be under 5 minutes :)
After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.
A teenage girl living in Baltimore in the early 1960s dreams of appearing on a popular TV dance show.
Deformed since birth, a bitter man known only as The Phantom lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House. He falls in love with the obscure chorus singer Christine, and privately tutors her while terrorizing the rest of the crew.
As a filmmaker and his girlfriend return home from his movie premiere, smoldering tensions and painful revelations push them toward a romantic reckoning.
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
When a disc containing memoirs of a former CIA analyst falls into the hands of gym employees, Linda and Chad, they see a chance to make enough money for Linda to have life-changing cosmetic surgery. Predictably, events whirl out of control for the duo, and those in their orbit.
On Halloween 1997, two estranged teen skaters embark on a surreal journey through their memories, dreams and fears.
A demoted police officer assigned to a call dispatch desk is conflicted when he receives an emergency phone call from a kidnapped woman.
A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.
An aging actress is desperate to become a mother. In menopause and too controversial for legal adoption, she decides to illegally adopt from a pregnant teenager while publicly faking pregnancy. The ensuing media circus at first revitalizes her career but then threatens to grow out of control and destroy everything she cares about.
Chick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.
The life of a successful radiologist spirals out of control when she sees the spitting image of herself driving down a London street. While attempting to uncover who the imposter could be, she stumbles into a terrifying mystery that her family and closest friends are somehow involved in, leaving her with no one to trust.
The now grown up Leoš remembers his childhood in communist Czechoslovakia of the 1970ies, his escape to Austria and first impressions in this new home, but also the things and people he had to leave behind.
After suffering an accident, a man suffers the pain of grief, marked by the great love he has for his family. He tries to connect with his wife and daughter at all times, but death prevents this memorable encounter. The anguish of loss seen through alternative eyes.
Thomas, 70, looks back on the last evening he and his lost friend Mari spent together. An evening in which they drink wine, dine, listen to piano playing and dance with their girlfriends. As the hours pass before his eyes, Thomas contemplates the lost friendship, the person Mari was and the conversations of that night.
Memories as photographs: no date, no place, no names.
Claudia revisits the house where she spent summers.