Director Jim Sikora made short films on Super-8 for more than ten years, among them the notorious Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera. Bullet on a Wire is his first feature and the only film ever made in the Cook County jail in Chicago. The film is set in the typical Sikora world of losers, lowlifes and ne’er-do-wells.Protagonist is the socially disturbed telemarketer Raymond. A strange coincidence (and a series of hate phone calls) make Raymond cause the troubled woman Tanya to murder her stepfather, who abused her. Tanya’s nasty boyfriend sells the story to a fetid television show and the long arm of the law is soon after Raymond.With his parade of dubious figures, surreal situations and an almost Wellesian low-budget aesthetic (5000 dollars!) Bullet on a Wire is reminiscent of films like Repo Man and Down by Law. Richard Kern (see also Steve Dwoskin’s contribution to the Cruel Machine programme) plays a minor role as grumpy barman. The film was successfully screened at e.g. the New York Underground Festival. Sara Jacobson: ‘This is what you hope for when you hear the hype about low budget film-making.’
