About the film

When Jim Jarmusch said "authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent,” he couldn’t have anticipated a film like So Pretty, the latest feature from Jessica Rovinelli about the lives of a polyamorous “proto-utopia” in New York City. Loosely based around a German novella of the same name, the film concerns itself with the process of translation: of the source material, of language, of geography, and of a stunning host of techniques from a prestigious but hitherto narrow and hegemonic art cinema canon. As characters drift between fiction and metafiction, trading names and personalities, the film’s hybrid form evokes such influences as Akerman, Cassavettes, Godard, and Straub-Huillet in ways that are all the more original precisely for their authenticity. —Zack Miller

About the filmmaker

Jessica Dunn Rovinelli is a director, writer, editor, and colourist living in Brooklyn. Her work includes award-winning feature films, music videos, and web content. In 2019, she was selected as one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film.