A Banquet / Film School Radio interview with Director Ruth Paxton

A BANQUET Widowed mother Holly (Sienna Guillory) is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey (Jessica Alexander) experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. But despite her refusal to eat, Betsey loses no weight and gains a growing faith in her newfound and enigmatic sense of purpose. At first, her condition is suspected to be an act of adolescent rebellion or a psychological break. As her daughter’s personality is further subsumed by this affliction, Holly finds herself confronting the boundaries of her own beliefs and the repressed traumas of her past. In an agonizing dilemma, torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs. Combined with stylish photography pervaded by grotesque culinary close-ups and subtle forays into nightmarish surrealism, A BANQUET is a disquieting feast with images and ideas that leave a potent and lingering aftertaste. Director Ruth Paxton (Be Still My Beating Heart, Stay Awake, Pulse) stops by to talk about A BANQUET’s literary and cinematic inspiration, the exceptional cast of actors who help make the film resonate and the satisfaction that comes with completing her debut feature film. For updates and screenings go to: abanquetmovie.com In theatres February 18, go to: abanquetmovie.com/tickets