Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival 2009

“...the wryly humorous comedy Countertransference, a 15-minute film from American filmmaker Madeleine Olnek that looks at the frustration and discontent that can arise during therapy -- especially with an unbalanced borderline psychotic therapist at the helm. Carla Carthrop is a shy, socially awkward woman with massive self-esteem issues. She works in an antique store and her professional claim to fame is being selected to manage the basement, which you can only access through a bulky trapdoor -- but that’s only if ‘it all works out, in two years.’ She’s in therapy to work on building her self-confidence, but her therapist begins to toy with her and ply her psyche with sexual suggestive comments and behavior. When Carla calls her on it, the therapist turns it around on her. The core of the film revolves around Carla’s attempt to walk away from her dysfunctional therapist. It’s a funny, psychologically loaded film that’s well crafted and skillfully acted.” - The Bottom Line Magazine, Palm Springs, CA *Winner of the 2008 OUTFEST Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Dramatic Short