It's hard to watch Amos Kollek's Sue without flinching--Anna Thomson is that good in the title portrayal of a Manhattan woman and her descent into a hell of loneliness and disconnection. Sue's desperate attempts to engage strangers in friendly conversation are either met with absolute rejection or sexual propositions. Even the new affair she cautiously begins gets cut short when her saviour calls from the airport to say he's leaving for a job in India. "I've seen a lot of beautiful, intelligent single women drift into a self-destructive, lonely life for reasons that were unclear, and I wanted to explore that," says Kollek, who's built a cinematic oeuvre of portraits of women on the edge.

Kollek was born and raised in Jerusalem and completed a stint in the Israeli army before embarking on a career as a novelist. He wrote and coproduced his first feature, Worlds Apart, in 1979 at 32. His directorial debut five years later, Goodbye, New York, featured Julie Hagerty and jumpstarted Kollek's reputation for creating strong female roles. Kollek's next three films, the first two shot in New York, starred Hanna Schygulla (Forever Lulu), Sally Kirkland (High Stakes) and Faye Dunaway (Double Edge, shot in Israel). Kollek says he wrote Sue with Thomson in mind and raised the necessary funds to shoot in 35mm color himself from private investors.

Sue shot in Manhattan's Chelsea and West Village throughout December. Kollek took the film to rough cut in New York before returning to Jerusalem for the birth of his second child. He's due back in New York in July and says Sue should be finished by September; all rights are available.

Cast: Anna Thomson, Matthew Powers, Tahnee Welch, Tracee Ross, Austin Pendleton, John Venti-miglia, Robert Kya-Hill, Matthew Faber, Edoardo Ballerini. Crew: Producers, Zack Habakuk, Osnat Shalev; Screenwriter/Director, Amos Kollek, Coproducers, Linda Moran, Rene Bastian; Associate Producer, Kerry Barden; Director of Photography, Ed Talavera; Production Designer, Charlotte Bourke; Casting, Lina Todd. Contact: Amos Kollek, 77 Ha'Eyal Street, Malcha, Apt. 9, Jerusalem 96955 Israel; Tel/Fax: (972 2) 679-5495; NYC Fax: (212) 727-7284.

Animals - Michael Di Jiacomo
Highball - Noah Baumbach
Life During Wartime - Evan Dunsky
Long Time Since - Jay Anania
Montana - Jennifer Leitzes
Portrait-in-Progress - Marion Cajori
Some Prefer Cake - Heidi Arnesen
Sparkler - Darren Stein
A Stranger in the Kingdom - Jay Craven
Sue - Amos Kollek