2003 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival

Quintessence

Category: Narrative Short  24mins
Director: Dustin Schell
Viewings: Friday, Sept. 12th 5:15pm

Thomas stands outside the door of a remote cabin between two frozen lakes. After a decade he has come to reconcile with Jason, his ex-lover, who is in the late stages of an HIV related illness. Suddenly, Jason’s sister Ruth appears in the driveway. After a prickly introduction they search the house, but finding no sign of Jason, they set about the task of finding him together. At the lakeshore they spy an eagle. Ruth tells a story of Jason's youthful fascination with them, and their nesting place across the lake. As night falls, the possibilities narrow. Anxious, they turn their feelings of helplessness onto one another; jockeying for territory and accusing the other of abandoning Jason. Finally, when Ruth blames Thomas outright for infecting her brother, Thomas reveals that he is healthy, and has no idea how Jason became ill. Overwhelmed, Ruth flees into the darkness in search of Jason. Later, when she returns to find Thomas drinking at the kitchen table, she joins him. Isolated and alone, they are forced to face their unresolved feelings about Jason and his illness. Through the telling of their stories, each finds a respect for the other's place in the life of this man that they have loved. At dawn, Ruth awakens to the vision of an eagle standing on the ice in front of the cabin. As it flies across the lake she chases after it, leaving Thomas standing inside the cabin. Thomas watches as Ruth disappears into the morning.

Principal Cast:
Craig Chester  (Kiss Me Guido, I Shot Andy Warhol, Frisk, Grief, Swoon)
Paula Malcomson  (A.I., Hamlet, The Green Mile, Tombstone)