Open City Documentary Festival: Actress

Brandy Burre had a recurring role on HBO’s The Wire when she gave up her career to start a family in upstate New York. When she decides to reclaim her life as an actor, the domestic world she’s carefully created crumbles around her.

Using elements of melodrama and cinema verité, Actress is both a present-tense portrait of a dying relationship and an exploration of a complicated woman, performing the role of herself, in a complex-yet-familiar story. It’s a film about starring in the movie of your life.

Actress, dir. Robert Greene, USA 2014, 88 mins.