Kristina Klebe’s ‘NOXTURNE’ Heads to Charlotte Film Festival Following Best Narrative Film Win in New York
Kristina Klebe’s psychological suspense drama NOXTURNE is continuing its festival run with a screening at the Charlotte Film Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26, following its Best Narrative Film win at Festival of Cinema NYC.
Drawing from Klebe’s own recovery from a life-altering spinal injury, NOXTURNE centers on Mia Nox, a celebrated concert pianist known for her interpretations of Chopin’s nocturnes. With a new relationship and a major Carnegie Hall performance approaching, Mia is beginning to imagine a different future for herself.
That future changes abruptly after a freak accident shatters her thoracic spine.
Unable to use the piano pedals and suddenly dependent on others during recovery, Mia finds herself increasingly unsettled by the man caring for her, a younger partner whose own ambitions begin to accelerate as hers are placed on hold.
As Mia waits for sensation to return to her legs, the film shifts deeper into psychological territory. Her suspicions intensify as her partner lands a coveted Lincoln Center audition, signs with her manager and appears to move more comfortably into the professional and personal spaces Mia once occupied.
The setup positions NOXTURNE as both a physical and psychological nightmare, with Mia questioning not only the intentions of the person closest to her, but how much of her identity can survive the sudden loss of control over her body and career.
Klebe uses that premise to explore bodily vulnerability, desire, ambition and identity through a distinctly female perspective. The film also incorporates dreamlike surrealism, allowing Mia’s fears and deteriorating sense of certainty to blur the line between emotional reality and psychological threat.
That personal foundation gives the project another layer. Rather than approaching spinal trauma strictly as a plot device, NOXTURNE is informed by Klebe’s own experience with serious injury and recovery, grounding the film’s larger suspense framework in questions of dependence, autonomy and the fear of being replaced while physically unable to fight back.
Following its recognition at Festival of Cinema NYC, the Charlotte Film Festival appearance gives the film another opportunity to reach audiences as it continues through the 2026 festival circuit.
NOXTURNE screens Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Charlotte Film Festival.
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