FAMILIAR TOUCH
Directed by Sarah Friedland // 90 mins // Feature
Ruth (Kathleen Chalfant), a retired cook, prepares breakfast in her sunny and cozy kitchen — a dish she seems to have made many times before, although small and puzzling errors now punctuate her comfortable routine. When her son (H. Jon Benjamin) arrives to dine with her, she mistakes him for a suitor. Their “date” takes them to an assisted living facility, which Ruth does not remember that she had previously selected for herself. Among her fellow memory care residents, Ruth feels lost and adrift, certain she has found herself somewhere she does not belong. As she slowly begins to accept the warmth and support of care workers Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle) and Brian (Andy McQueen), she finds new ways to ground herself in her body, even as her mind embarks on a journey all its own. Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s coming-of-old-age feature compassionately follows the winding path of octogenarian Ruth’s shifting memories and desires while remaining rooted in her sage perspective.
Special Appearance and Q&A
with Kathleen Chalfant and Sarah Friedland
In a career spanning more than five decades, Kathleen Chalfant’s performances on stage, screen and television have garnered her praise and acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Perhaps best known for her shattering portrayal of Vivian Bearing, a scholar battling cancer, in Wit, she received the Obie, the Drama Desk, the Lucille Lortel, the Outer Critics Circle, the Ovation, Connecticut Critics Circle, the Garland and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for her work. BROADWAY: Angels in America (Tony and Drama Desk nom.), Racing Demon, Dance With Me. She most recently appeared in HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES with New York Theatre Workshop and THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING with Keen Company, Long Wharf, and Theatre Aspen, as well as the upcoming film FAMILIAR TOUCH. NY/OFF-BROADWAY: A Woman of the World, Wit (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Connecticut Critics Circle, Obie Awards), HELLZAPOPPIN’ with Yvonne
Rainer, Four Quartets (BAM) For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday, A Walk in the Woods (Drama Desk nom.), Talking Heads (Obie Award), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination) Television/Film: “The Affair”,”Rescue Me”, “The Blacklist”, “Elementary”, “High Maintenance”, “House of Cards”, “Madam Secretary”, “Duplicity”, “Old”, “Kinsey”, “Lackawanna Blues”
Sarah Friedland (b. Los Angeles, 1992) is a filmmaker and choreographer working at the intersection of moving images and moving bodies. Friedland’s debut feature film, Familiar Touch, earned critical acclaim at the Venice International Film Festival last year, where she received both the Lion of the Future - Luigi De Laurentiis Award for Debut Film and the Horizons Award for Best Director. In addition to Friedland’s honors, the film’s lead actress Kathleen Chalfant received the award for Best Actress, making Familiar Touch the most awarded film selected for the Horizons category in the festival’s history. On the heels of her success at Venice, she won an Independent Spirit Award in the “Someone to Watch” category. Familiar Touch will be released in US theaters this summer by Music Box Films, in addition to distribution in over a dozen territories worldwide. Her previous work has been showcased at leading venues and festivals, including the New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, BFI, MoMA, BAM, and the Performa Biennial. She has received support from institutions including Film at Lincoln Center, the Jerome Foundation, Panavision, Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Bronx Museum, and Berlinale Talents. In 2023, Friedland was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film and from 2021 to 2022 was both a Pina Bausch Fellow for Choreography and a NYSCA/NYFA Fellow in Film/Video. She is a graduate of Brown University’s department of Modern Culture and Media.