Ring Around the Posey

The house was packed for Monday night’s screening of Broken English, and the audience was treated to a double delight—a cinematic gem and a Q&A every bit as spunky and substantive as the film itself. Zoe Cassavetes, daughter of luminaries John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, and Parker Posey (who also stars in Hal Hartley’s (at left) Festival entry Fay Grim), proved an irresistible tandem, alternately playful and serious. Cassavetes set out to tell the tale of “billions of women that was funny, sad, and the real deal.” While it would be easy to slap the romantic comedy label on the film, she noted that she wanted “something more honest, more hardcore . . . a portrait of loneliness.” Cassavetes admitted that her principal direction for the indie queen was, “I don’t want any of that cute [stuff].” Not a problem according to Posey: “I had to call upon myself to act more like a bitch. I simply had to accentuate my negative aspects.”