Director Katharine O’Brien makes her feature debut with Lost Transmissions, an LA-set drama about mental illness and its effect on a budding friendship between stars Juno Temple and Simon Pegg. Following a world premiere at Tribeca in April, O’Brien brought this intimate two-hander to the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, where she enjoyed an enthusiastic audience reception for its refreshingly grounded depiction of schizophrenia. Writing her own material (after her script for The Automatic Hate in 2015) in addition to directing, and drawing from personal experience with people close to her, the Californian filmmaker examines the blind spots of support systems, both institutional and private, and eschews grand narrative arcs in favor of a realistic approach to the subject. I joined O’Brien for a chat during the American Film Festival, discussing her influences and Simon Pegg’s purely dramatic turn as co-protagonist Theo.