BROADCASTS.com

Living comfortably at the margins of documentary and narrative cinema, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky of Pigeon Projects forgo conventional storytelling methods in order to accommodate stark imagery, elusive characters and a deadpan realism.

Their recent documentary, The Patron Saints, is a disquieting and hyperrealistic glimpse into life at a nursing home. \xa0 Their first narrative feature, Francine, stars Academy Award winner Melissa Leo playing a woman struggling to find her place in a downtrodden lakeside town after leaving behind a life in prison.

Brian and Melanie have shown their work at the Sundance, Rotterdam, Toronto, and Edinburgh film festivals and won awards at the European Media Art Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, and the Athens International Film Festival.\xa0

Filmmaker Magazine has named\xa0Brian M. Cassidy\xa0and\xa0Melanie Shatzky\xa0as one of "25 New Faces of Independent Film".\xa0