Barbara Lee

CHRONIC is an experimental narrative about a young woman who began mutilating herself as a girl to cope with a traumatic mid-western childhood. The lush optically-printed scenes take Gretchen’s point of view from her punk youth, a stay in a mental hospital, and her release into the big city. Scripted scenes are inter-spliced with documentary and found footage, illustrating the culture Gretchen lives in, her inner world and relationships from her birth to her final day.

Down-on-his-luck Harry Ho, finally decides to propose to his girlfriend, Anita, on her 30th birthday. But when Anita decides to spend her birthday in Las Vegas with her entire family - who has never met Harry - the fireworks begin! Unbeknownst to the young couple, Anita's traditional Chinese parents have a nice Chinese doctor in mind for Anita, and they don't approve of Harry, an unpaid Korean writer.

A single man thinks he has finally found a woman who loves him. The woman is charming and intelligent but holds a very dark secret which will truly test how strong their relationship can be.