In 2018, Anna Baumgarten’s short film Disfluency saw her exploring a young woman’s coping with the aftermath of a traumatic event by retreating into herself and returning to her childhood home. Baumgarten expands on that story for her feature debut, bringing much of the original cast with her while adding an indie stalwart, The Last Stop in Yuma County‘s Jim Cummings, as an exec-producer.
Libe Barer (Beautiful Disaster) reprises her role as Jane, a brilliant college student who shocks everyone by flunking out of her final college class, and returning to her Michigan hometown surrounded by friends and family. There she comes to grips with the PTSD and “Imposter Syndrome” that destroyed her senior year.
Also returning in the role of Mark is Oppenheimer actor Dylan Arnold. Runaways and How to Blow Up a Pipeline‘s Ariela Barer (she’s quickly becoming a favorite) co-stars, along with Chelsea Alden, Travis Tope, Kimiko Singer, Molly Hagan, Ricky Wayne, Diana DeLaCruz, and Wayne David Parker.
Baumgarten wrote the script and makes her feature directing debut, adapted from her short film directed by Laura Holliday. Disfluency has been making its way through the festival circuit, winning multiple awards along the way.
Buffalo 8 will release Disfluency in theaters on January 10th 2025, with a digital release on January 24th.
Synopsis: To everyone’s surprise, “Jane the Brain,” flunks her final college class and retreats to her Michigan hometown by the lake. Her parents, sassy older sister, townie friends, and an old high school crush soften the burden of failure as she tries to sort out what to do next. It’s not long before this misstep feels more like an opportunity at one last care-free summer vacation. She rekindles an old friendship with her neighbor Amber, a single mother with a difficult toddler, and utilizes her skills as a linguistics student–including teaching her American Sign Language–to help Amber connect with her son. Despite her best efforts, however, Jane can’t keep the real reason that caused her academic disruption bottled up. She struggles with imposter syndrome, and her PTSD boils over. With the support of those around her, Jane unravels herself and starts the never-ending healing process of life after sexual assault.
