Varya Rootwood

In this thought-provoking documentary, filmmaker Madeline Hunt-Ehrlich delves into the rediscovery of Edmonia Lewis's monumental sculpture, The Death of Cleopatra (1876).

Appliance follows Sophie Weiss, whose house and its malfunctioning appliances become extensions of her biological self deconstruction. Just after a week of moving into her new home, Sophie's sense of reality takes on a distorted form as she begins to believe her house is living and breathing around her. Perhaps a result of her isolation? The side effect of a fertility treatment? Or even an outside antagonist? Appliance makes light of the disturbing history shaping the American delusion that homeownership is both an accessible tool for social mobility and a means by which one can value their self-worth.

When a pair of twins tries living up to the public expectation of their sisterhood, they are pushed into a frenzy of performance and must rebuild their relationship anew as two individuals with a sacred bond.