Melanie Mitzner
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DODGE & BURN - a finalist in the Writers Guild East Foundation Fellowship, this political thriller is set in New York during the Reagan era. 

A disillusioned wire service photographer joins a human rights group to expose U.S. atrocities in Central America. While gathering evidence she encounters a series of bombings. Through the perpetrators she realizes the human rights group has been infiltrated by the C.I.A. 

INT. DARKROOM - AFTERNOON

A HAND gropes for the light switch. ANOTHER HAND grabs it. The SOUND of Suzanne SWALLOWING HARD as her arm is pinned behind her back. She gives a sudden blow to the captor's solar plexus. A man GRUNTS, falls back. Suzanne flips on the light.

It's Ben.

                                                          BEN
                                                     (coughing)
                                      You used to like that.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      Damn it, Ben.

                                                          BEN
                                      Where'd you go this morning?

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      Home.

                                                          BEN
                                      No, you didn't.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      Next thing I know you'll call me a terrorist.

                                                          BEN
                                      Are you?

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      Please, I'm not in the mood. I can see how stupid it
                                      was trying to salvage things. Let's forget it. Just
                                      forget it, okay?

 He sits on a stool.

                                                          BEN
                                      All this time you've been lying, haven't you?
 
                                                          SUZANNE
                                      What about you? What the fuck have you been doing?

                                                          BEN
                                      Nothing yet.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      What's that supposed to mean?

                                                          BEN
                                      We're talking about you, babe.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      Don't give me that babe shit.

Suzanne checks out the screens, sees how much he's seen. He pulls her chin toward him.

                                                          BEN
                                      Let's have it.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      I can't.

                                                          BEN
                                      You can. And you will. I deserve as much. What an
                                      asshole I've been. All this time I thought I was wrong
                                      and then I realize it wasn't me at all. I was doing what
                                      I was capable of, but you, you fuckhead. I trusted you!

                                                          SUZANNE
                                      You did? I didn't trust you.

Ben, wounded, holds up the photos.

                                                          SUZANNE
                                                       (continues)
                                       My work.
                                                       (beat)
                                       My work is my life, not yours.

                                     











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