Director: Dover Kosashvili.
The pivot point is an emotional and psychological triangle: a civil servant, Laevsky (Andrew Scott, appalling and appealing); his married mistress, Nadya (Fiona Glascott, a milky beauty); and a zoologist, Von Koren (Tobias Menzies, suitably rigid). The story gets going with Laevsky bitterly complaining about Nadya to an older friend, a doctor, Samoylenko (Niall Buggy). Laevsky claims to no longer care for Nadya, who, having left her husband, now inspires her lover’s contempt or, perhaps, fatigue. Like a caged animal, he wants out and claws at Samoylenko as Von Koren watches and seethes, stoking his loathing for Laevsky. For his part, by cutting to Nadya during Laevsky’s rant and capping the scene with a disapproving look from Von Koren, Mr. Kosashvili suggests that his own sympathies are divided.

Director: Mollye Asher.
“Slim and Lena” is a modern film noir set in the grit and glamour of the neo-burlesque scene. The story begins, narrated by Slim, when he returns to NYC to settle a beef with Big Daddy, the proprietor of a hip burlesque lounge on the Lower East Side. When Slim discovers that his long lost true love, sweet Lena, has become a burlesque dancer; the typical roles of a noir are turned on their head. Packed with love, sex, and redemption, “Slim and Lena” is the story of how Lena finds her voice and becomes the heroine and narrator of her own story.