BIFF - Beloit International Film Festival

Fri Feb 19, 2016 – 5 pm | Bushel & Peck’s
Sun Feb 28, 2016 – 12 pm | Hendricks Arts Center

YES! Filmmaker(s) Attending for Q & A

Jessica

Directed by Scott K. Foley

Narrative Feature
USA | 1 hour 25 minutes | 2015

Everyone Jessica cares about seems to be moving on without her. Her best friend Pam is on the verge of landing her dream job, a job that would take her away from the restaurant where she and Jessica have worked since college, and the 11-year old neighbor girl who she has been tutoring in ballet – one of the only things Jessica really looks forward to – is about to master a set of skills Jessica never could.

When her long-absent father Ken shows up one night insisting they rekindle their relationship, Jessica begins desperately searching for something – anything – that still feels familiar. But as her actions grow more and more selfish, her friends lose their patience with her.

Frustrated and confused, Jessica runs back to the small town where she grew up and the protective arms of her mother Sandy. But things back home aren’t the way she remembered, and when Sandy expresses her growing concern about Jessica’s behavior, the two get into a huge fight that leaves Jessica feeling even more isolated and alone.

She slips out early the next morning and returns to the life she only recently tried to escape. But she quickly discovers that that her problems have only gotten worse. Her friends are mad at her for bailing on her promises, and her father’s old ways are beginning to reveal themselves. In a last ditch attempt to escape, she turns to a sleazy co-worker for distraction and comfort, but when the two end up sharing a moment of real intimacy, a moment Jessica never expected, she finds herself fighting to choke back some powerful and unexpected emotions.

The next day as Jessica stares in the mirror, she begins to realize just how childishly she’s been acting. She can’t help but be reminded of the advice her mother gave her, to stop running from her problems, and she knows where to start, she sets out to make things right with the people closest to her.

Scott K Foley | Jessica FilmScott K. Foley
Director, Producer, Writer

Scott K. Foley is an award-winning independent filmmaker. His documentary, To Say Goodbye, was awarded “best of” prizes at festivals including the Iowa International Film Festival, the Athens International Film Festival, and the Wisconsin Film Festival.

As a cinematographer Scott has shot a variety of documentary film and reality television shows, and in 2011 he traveled to the Cannes Film Festival when a short film he’d shot was accepted into the festival’s Short Film Corner.

In addition to being an active filmmaker, Scott has taught film production at schools such as Northwestern University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Columbia College Chicago. He is currently working to adapt a short story that appeared in the New Yorker and is editing a feature film about the integration of an all black college in Tennessee during the 1960’s.

Film Information

Director: Scott K. Foley
Country: USA
Year: 2015
Language: English
Runtime: 1 hr 25 min

Credits

Producers: Mel Eslyn, Josh Rosenberg, Scott K. Foley
Executive Producer: Niels Mueller
Writers:
Scott K. Foley, Josh Rosenberg
Director of Photography: Joe Fitzgerald
Composer: Joshua Dumas

Connect With This Film

Principal Cast

BIFF | Beloit International Film Festival