REVIEW
A fascinating project in which seven female directors from Chicago create an interwoven saga of lesbian passion, bisexuality, and personal deception. An inspirational film movement has emerged out of Chicago in which seven gifted women directors have created different shorts using the same characters and intertwining them into one suspenseful narrative: Brushfires is the newest project, and is based on the poem of the same name by Jessica Wilbur. Timid Cat and her fiery punk roommate Melissa play flirtatious games with each other until Melissa's ex-boyfriend is back in town. Pissed-off and finally realizing that her secret love for her selfish housemate is going nowhere, Cat meets Dakota at a bus stop, but this emotionally unstable, quirky and unapologetic woman soon turns everyone’s lives upside down. This mysterious bisexual ropes in a down-on-his-luck janitor/actor, and inevitably entraps them all into her one-room apartment. Dakota pushes the envelope, and her ploy of deception quickly backfires. The seven chapters in Brushfires (Smoke, Mirror, Paint Yrself, Cancerous Circus, Girl, The Wind Spreads, and Into a Cloud) are skillfully blended into an impressive project highlighting both the compelling acting, and a sensitive story of relationships, obsession and self-identity.