Self Portrait

Abstract

Self Portrait, a feature length screenplay set in present day Toronto, Berlin, and fictional Kirchenfeld, Bavaria, tells the story of Hugo, a schizophrenic recent art school graduate who wins a painting prize and exhibition spot at a gallery in Berlin. Having just months before found his fathers body after he killed himself, Hugo dramatically switches his painting style from his true passion, abstract expressionism, to photorealism, the style in which his father abusively trained him throughout his youth. The pressure to perform combined with his decision to stop taking his antipsychotic medication chip away at Hugos sanity. Encountering his doppelgnger, Hauke, upsets the new balance Hugo desperately struggles to maintain. Hugo is forced to take drastic actions to ensure Hauke does not jeopardize his success as a photorealist. Self Portrait is a story of the dangers of self-suppression and the struggle with an untreated mental illness.