Director Tchaiko Omawale (2018  81 min)

SOLE, 17, distracts herself from her father’s cancer with future college plans. But when he dies, she’s forced to move away to Los Angeles to live with her estranged grandmother IRENE. Sole secretly finds refuge in food numbing the pain of her father’s death and the discomfort of Irene’s overbearing ways. She desperately searches for an escape, finding it in a performance art grant that would take her back to New York. Sole recruits the neighbors Irene forbid her to interact with: party girl, JASMINE 19 and best friend GUEDADO 18, an introverted musician.  Sole’s escape plan becomes increasingly complicated as her emotional stability is threatened by Jasmine’s instability. Sole discovers Jasmine cuts herself to soothe her pain, triggering Sole to binge and flake on her new friends, threatening their participation. Sole gets them back on board but fails to juggle Irene’s emotional demands, Jasmine’s jealous sabotaging and her own bingeing.

When Irene discovers her plans they fight. Sole runs to Jasmine’s house to hide in the bliss of drugs and friendship but is soon overcome with anxiety when Guedado falls for her. She decides to diet. Without the comfort of food Sole is aggravated by Jasmine’s newfound sincerity about the grant so she parties and numbs and in the fog of starvation and prescription drugs passes out.  Sole ends up back in her grandmother’s house isolating from everyone and bingeing again. Then she is awarded the grant. Sole decides to take control and throw out all her food but she can’t help herself. It’s in this dark and desperate space where Irene catches her eating from the garbage. At rock bottom Sole can’t run away from her pain anymore and surrenders to her grandmother’s comfort finally admitting to herself she has a problem.

Q&A with director to follow…

Mothers are like Mirrors

Director Jacarrea Garraway (USA 2019 14:55min)

An autobiographical reflection of a young woman's relationship with her mother.