2011 Special Jury Prize Winner

Genevieve leaves her artsy Brooklyn community to accompany her writer boyfriend on a research trip upstate. Upon arriving at their secluded country home, Genevieve meets Robin, a fast-talking local girl with an endearing rough-around-the-edges attitude. Robin emerges as a breath of fresh air from Genevieve’s stuffy intellectual lifestyle, but despite the promise of this budding friendship and the tranquility of her surroundings, Genevieve struggles to find peace in her new life. Her feelings towards Robin suddenly take a toxic turn as she grows suspicious of her friend, reinforcing a tension that lingers quietly beneath the surface of the narrative and haunts the film to its end.

Beautifully shot and carefully crafted, GREEN marks the directorial debut of actress and writer Sophia Takal. With subtlety and grace, the film invites us to consider how cruelty emerges alongside of love. Takal (Robin) and her co-star Kate Lyn Sheil (Genevieve) are equally captivating in their roles, delivering strikingly honest performances that keep us riveted from beginning to end. Through its complex portraits of these two women who struggle in different ways to articulate who they are in relation to those around them, the film explores both the fears and the fantasies that motivate—and sometimes threaten to destroy—our most intimate relationships.

—Amy Woodbury Tease