John Vamvas

Karen, a young psychiatric nurse, boards the last subway train of the night only to have it stop in the middle of the tunnel. Suddenly, her nightmare begins: a mysterious cult has decided that it's the end of the world and the only way to save the souls of the living is to kill them in cold blood. As those around her are brutally murdered, Karen and a handful of survivors must face the homicidal cult, supernatural forces and their own fears of Armageddon in order to survive.

A lost cat, a giant talkative frog and a tsunami help a bank employee without ambition, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant to save Tokyo from an earthquake and find a meaning to their lives.

Scarpedicemente is a claustrophobic, dark comedy based on the play written by the two leads, husband and wife team John Vamvas and Olga Montes. Luigi (John Vamvas) is a delusional gangster madly in love with his ditzy gangster moll wife Holly (Olga Montes). The larger-than-life couple are celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary at a low rent Las Vegas motel. While deeply in love, Luigi and Holly share an inability to live in the present. Luigi a walking film projector, playing out the favorite gangster movies of his mind. While Holly's exuberant exterior hides a troubled past bubbling to the surface of their relationship. Sparks fly in this tale of two troubled souls mired in their hefty emotional baggage. —Donato Totaro