Julie Talen's Pretend

Pretend uses an array of multiple frames and complex graphics to tell the story of a troubled family living in upstate New York. Dad (Karl Herlinger) is an unemployed poet and Mom (Joan Jubett) supports the entire family by working at the local convenience store. Their two young daughters escape into a world of make-believe. The highly imaginative Sophie (Nora Stewart) spins stories for her little sister, Ellie (Danielle Freid) to believe — or not. One night, the girls overhear the parents’ fight that seems to spell the end of the family. Sophie comes up with a daring plan to keep Dad from leaving the next day, which involves hiding her sister all night in the woods. Pretend’s “new graphic vocabulary” (Village Voice) has been highly praised by the New York Times’ A.O. Scott as a “harrowing, dazzling” feature. A crucial pioneer in the new frontier of digital cinema, Pretend was shot entirely on miniDv cameras in 14 days and edited on two G4s using Final Cut Pro and 14 hard drives.