The Great Pretender

In the winter of 2012, two famous American performance artists sat in anonymous hotel rooms on the West Coast, waiting to take the stage, and in a bizarre coincidence, over-dosed on the anxiety drug Xanax. One survived, one did not. The two individuals are Whitney Houston, who tragically died, and the author of this piece, who lived. Incarcerated in a psychiatric ward, the author began an arduous and experimental journey towards recovery. What is life, and why should we live it, having had it thrust upon us like the assigned reading of a baffling mystery novel, the chapters jumbled, the text often incomprehensible? In the thirty-seven years of life leading up to this event, we find a simple but elusive answer: Love.

As kids in Maine in the early '90s, Zachary and his older brother Gator loved making home-movie versions of their two favorite films, Jean-Claude Van Damme's karate opus Kickboxer and psuedo-snuff classic Faces of Death. Now it's 2009, and though estranged from his family, Zachary returns to Maine to re-create these childhood tapes as accurately as possible. Things aren't the same however, as aging, drugs, and prison time have taken their toll on the Oberzan siblings. But with Jean-Claude and Dr. Frances B. Gröss in their corner, Zack and Gator (and sister Jenni) step back into the ring for a title shot at redemption.

A one-man adaptation of First Blood, filmed over the course of four months, entirely within a 220-sq. ft. apartment.