"Fiona's Script" (USA 2009, 93 minutes) is one of a number of Philly premieres featured in this year's 16th annual QFest and it's a story in a story in a story. Fiona (Soia Montejano) is writing a screenplay, partly for therapy, since her live-in boyfriend left her for someone else.
Fio, her cousin Paloma, and her best friend Mar try to get Fio back on track, and her writing mirrors her life at the moment-difficult just to continue living, difficult to bring the screenplay to resolution. And her friends are committed to getting her back in the game. Since Fio is bisexual, her field is open, and she starts to look at women in a different way.
An old friend comes back into Fiona's life and convinces her to produce her screenplay as a play and then the story really takes off. Sometimes it's our connections that take us forward.
Fiona and her main character Flavia are similar, different and equally confused. When the errant boyfriend comes back and says she's changed and he's changed, Fiona is confused. Should she go back, should she go forward to the luscious, sexy "L" or go between the horns of the dilemma?
Reminiscent of "Go Fish," with its real life people and situations, director Florencia Manóvil's debut vehicle, including a beginning and ending in a pool, is a metaphor for birth. One of the most telling scenes is when Fiona is bicycling past sculptures in a park-one says "Here" and the other "There," and it's a subtle and not-subtle sign of where we're going.
Featuring a fresh cast of actors, also including Dierdre Renee Draginoff, Giovannie Espiritu, James Z. Feng, Mayra Gaeta, Ellen Ho, Kathreen Khavarai, Allan Lazo and Caroline Lee, this film, and its filmmaker are definitely ones to watch.
Catch "Fiona's Script" at the Ritz at the Bourse, 400 Ranstead Street, on July 9 at 5:30 p.m. or at the Ritz East, 125 South Second Street, in Theater Two, on July 12 at 7 p.m. Go to http://www.qfest.com for further information.
