Persona Non Grata

USA
1997, 35mm, Color, 15 min.
World Premiere

Director: Sara Giibert
Producer: Jason Conti
Cinematographer: Eric Schmidt
Editor: David Zieff
Screenwriter: Jill Mazursky
Music: Gina Schock, Steve Rlunkett
Principal Cast: Jacob Barandes, Jane Pennebaker, Ellen Greene,
Daniel Gerroll, Patricia Kalember, Dylan Baker

A young girl, Jane, moves with her parents from California to New York's Greenwich Village, where she befriends a neighbor, Frederick, who is about the same age. Frederick is a precocious, entrepreneurial grade schooler whose parents are divorced. He lives with his mom in a beautiful town house; his dad, who owes money to the mob, is hiding out in Long Island. Jane comes from a happy, loving family, and she bears witness to Frederick's dysfunctional family drama with fascination. When Frederick's mom decides to move in with her new boyfriend, leaving him to fend for himself, he threatens to call child services unless she signs over the deed to the house. When she finally breaks up with her boyfriend, it's she who must ask Frederick for permission to move back in. In the end, Frederick's dad sorts out his problems and sends for him, leaving Jane alone to relate this charming coming-of-age story from first-time director Sara Gilbert.