The Dryden will screen The Unspeakable Act (Dan Sallitt, U.S. 2012, 91 min., digital) followed by a discussion with director Dan Sallitt.

In this subtle "sibling drama," 17-year-old Jackie (Tallie Medel) struggles with her deeply felt incestuous desires for her brother Matthew (Sky Hirschkron). "After All the Ships at Sea, I felt I needed a new field to plough, which is terribly risky for a self-financed filmmaker. The story of The Unspeakable Act excited me less for the transgression itself than for the young protagonist's refusal to share in the world's judgment of her forbidden desire: she's an existentialist hero, incapable of internalizing the obstacles she observes. But I knew that I needed an uncommon actor for that role, and I had no one in mind; and I also needed a house that could evoke her private legend, and I had none at my disposal. So The Unspeakable Act is for me the record of a once-in-a-lifetime good-luck streak, in the course of which I managed to ally myself with the extraordinary Tallie Medel and to secure the fairy-tale house of my dreams in Brooklyn's Midwood Park. In addition to the ongoing influence of Eric Rohmer on my style, I here duplicated an aspect of his choice of material: the line that cannot be crossed, however much a character may wish it. Apart from this, I don't think my storytelling instincts are nearly as Rohmerian as my approach to image and sound." — Dan Sallitt

[source: Dryden website, 2015-Jun-8]