Katie Holmes directs 'Rare Objects' on broken things' value

Katie Holmes, known for playing Joey Potter in 'Dawson's Creek', has directed her third feature film 'Rare Objects', which premiered in Italy at the seventh edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival. The film is an adaptation of Kathleen Tessaro's novel of the same name, but Holmes shifted the setting from the Great Depression of the 1930s to contemporary New York City. She stated that she loved the story and found it liberating to adapt the novel differently, focusing on themes of friendship, trauma recovery, and self-discovery. The protagonist Benita, played by Julia Mayorga, works in an antique shop where she encounters objects like Murano glass, Kent Shire jewelry, Cuban cigars, Commedia dell'Arte masks, and a 19th-century desk belonging to Mozart's sister. Production designer Michael Fitzgerald emphasized that the film centers on the idea that what is broken in an object or a person makes it more valuable, linking to mental health themes. Holmes also appears in the cast and described her directorial work as a daily challenge that helps her better understand actors.