Virginia Film Festival

Marty Jackitansky, a bored temp at a mortgage office, is out to get what he feels he deserves. When he devises a scheme to steal petty refund checks from his mortgage company and somehow convince banks into cashing them, he reveals his plan to his only work friend, Derek, who’s seen Marty fail in the past. Marty’s growing suspicions drive him into hiding out in Derek’s basement for a week, terrified of the outside world, until his anxiety is temporarily subdued but eventually boils into a dangerous state of aggression. After lashing out against Derek, Marty hops a bus to Detroit, spending his nights at either derelict motels or luxurious highrises, all dependent on the cash in his pocket at the time. Marty’s unstable mental state festers into a psychotic state, as he mutates into a man willing to draw blood from those he sees as bloodsuckers. Director Joel Potrykus’s 2012 feature Ape was the winner of the VFF’s Programmer’s Choice Award. Discussion with director Joel Potrykus