It's a Wrap

Searching for Paradise

Competition Film

Writer-director Myra Paci makes a strong feature filmmaking debut with this understated story about a recent college graduate who deals with her father's death by seeking out the movie star (Noth) with whom she has become obsessed. Armed with only her mini-DV cam, some vague aspirations of getting into filmmaking, and a burning anger caused by her post-mortem discovery of her father's extramarital affair, Gilda Mattei (Pratt) heads to New York to pursue her dreams. Confabulating impressions of her father and the movie star, Gilda adopts the identity of her father's mistress, meets her idol, and discovers that images are merely slippery shards of half-truths. Relative newcomer Pratt delivers a confident performance in this film bolstered by an array of good work.