Local directors show their films

Don't let the title fool you.

Pornography, the feature debut of Philadelphia-born writer-director David Kittredge, which will screen at Philadelphia QFest, is not a porn flick.

It is, however, a deeply affecting and disturbing thriller that has earned Kittredge comparisons to David Lynch and David Cronenberg.

Pornography is one of several strong QFest entries by local directors. Kittredge, 37, who grew up in Chestnut Hill and worked part-time at TLA Video during his senior year at Penn Charter, is the prototypical video store clerk turned Hollywood success.

"I'm jazzed about coming back to Philly," said the filmmaker, who currently lives in Los Angeles.

His film sounds deceptively simple. "It's a puzzle movie, a thriller about a porn star who goes missing," Kittredge said.

The cleverly constructed film subverts audience expectations about the detective genre, about the nature of storytelling and about our society's attitudes toward porn.

Kittredge said he wants the film to challenge viewers to "ask what is the nature of pornography?" While the film isn't an anti-porn anthem, "I don't think there is an ethical or healthy way to participate in [porn] for a very long time and not be hurt by it."

QFest also features the work of five local directors in the shorts program "Out in Philly - Season 3."

Looking For . . . by Michelle Pollino, an experienced indie film producer and assistant director, is a lighthearted romantic comedy about the perils of using dating services.

The Upper Darby native said the 24-minute film has a local cast, including Yardley's Jill Whelan (best known as Vicki Stubing on The Love Boat), and it was shot entirely in Philly.

Pollino says she doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a gay filmmaker. "If someone comes to me with Spider-Man 5," she said, "I'm totally there."

South Philly resident Kelly Burkhardt's entry, the dark, moody Tremble & Spark, couldn't be more different from Pollino's flick.

"It's basically a lesbian noir, which is something that isn't generally being made in lesbian films," said Burkhardt, an Allentown native. "A lot of the films are romantic comedies or stories about lesbians having babies."

She said the murder mystery stars Cathy DeBuono (Out at the Wedding) as a hard-nosed detective and Jessica Graham (2 Minutes Later) as her former lover who helps run a prostitution and human trafficking ring.

"My style is putting things out there in front of our face," Burkhardt, 36, said, adding that there's no happy ending.

David Sarrafian, who at 23 is the youngest local director, presents I Quit, a 20-minute unromantic semi-tragedy about a "20-year-old guy who breaks up with his first boyfriend and doesn't know how to grieve."

The Upper Darby native said the film, which is somewhat informed by his own life, was offered as his senior filmmaking thesis at Temple University.

"This will be my world premiere," he said. "I'm extremely nervous, very, very nervous. I hope it's well received."

And his future plans? "I want to stay in Philly, because it's such an up-and-coming film town."