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Living comfortably at the margins of documentary and narrative cinema,\xa0Brian M. Cassidy\xa0and\xa0Melanie Shatzky\xa0of\xa0Pigeon Projects\xa0forgo conventional storytelling methods in order to accommodate stark imagery, elusive characters and a deadpan realism.

Filmmaker Magazine\xa0has named\xa0Brian\xa0and\xa0Melanie\xa0as part of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film".\xa0

Brian\xa0and\xa0Melanie\xa0have shown their work at the\xa0Sundance,\xa0Rotterdam,\xa0Toronto, and\xa0Edinburgh\xa0film festivals and won awards at the\xa0European Media Art Festival, the\xa0Chicago International Film Festival, and the\xa0Athens International Film Festival.\xa0

Their recent documentary,\xa0The Patron Saints, is a disquieting and hyper-realistic glimpse into life at a nursing home. Their first narrative feature,\xa0Francine, stars\xa0Academy Award\xa0winner\xa0Melissa Leo\xa0playing a woman struggling to find her place in a downtrodden lakeside town after leaving behind a life in prison. \xa0

Francine\xa0along with\xa0The Patron Saints\xa0continue to play worldwide in a variety of international film festivals.