Steve Scibelli

A quietly observed story of a man holding on to his precarious sense of identity in a mental hospital.

An old barber finds himself at a loss when called upon to shave an unusually jittery customer. When all attempts at idle everyday chatter fail to calm the man, the barber desperately falls back on his last resort: to tell the only secret he knows.

I Am The Tigress is an observational style documentary that follows the journey of protagonist Tischa “The Tigress” Thomas during the last year of her career as an African American female bodybuilder. Philipp Fussenegger and Dino Osmanović worked for over 2.5 years on creating this unique piece. They traveled with her from Harlem to Bucharest as she strived towards her goal to place number one in the world in female bodybuilding.

Four independent short films comprise this quirky anthology. "Coriolis Effect" (1994) is an offbeat love story involving storm chasers. In the Oscar-nominated "Solly's Diner" (1979), a homeless man (Larry Hankin, who also directs) witnesses a holdup. "Looping" (1991) satirizes independent moviemaking. And the dialogue-free "Joe" (1997) features David Aaron Baker as a psychiatric patient searching for enlightenment.