The Soothing System
The Soothing System is a short film written and produced by Mari and Sarah Cronk and directed by Erik Spink. It was shot on location in City Island, The Bronx and Manhattan by Director of Photography Amitabh Joshi. The film is inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether and reimagines this tale, originally published in 1845, in a contemporary setting with female leads.
Festivals and screenings
The Soothing System premiered in New York in August 2018 at the Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema (KGFC), now known as NYC Festival of Cinema, and received nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Sound Editing. Sarah Cronk and Erik Spink were featured on the KGFC podcast. Listen to the interview here.
The film was also in the official selection of the Katra Film Series inaugural Sidebar Edition in New York, which highlights underrepresented voices, as well as the Yonkers Film Festival (YoFiFest) in New York and Female Filmmaker Fuse Film Festival in Los Angeles, where it won the Jury Award.
A semi-finalist at LA CineFest, the film was recognized in the Best Drama category by Mindfield Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Spotlight Short Film Awards Silver category.
