Alex Burns

Garden State -- A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.

Brother to Brother -- A young black gay artist struggling to find his voice meets an elderly poet, and together they embark on a surreal narrative journey through the poet's past experiences of the Harlem Renaissance.

Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) returns to his hometown for the funeral of his clinically depressed mother, a journey that reconnects him with some of his past friends. Because the trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants, he also begins to reconnect with himself. A chance meeting with Sam (Natalie Portman), a girl also suffering from various maladies, opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.

Andrew Largeman returns to his hometown for the funeral of his clinically depressed mother, a journey that reconnects him with some of his past friends. Because the trip coincides with his decision to stop taking his powerful antidepressants, he also begins to reconnect with himself. A chance meeting with Sam, a girl also suffering from various maladies, opens up the possibility of rekindling emotional attachments, confronting his psychologist father, and perhaps beginning a new life.