One way to shoot an exquisitely detailed indie film on a budget of less than $2 million is to hire an actor the same size as the director - and with a similar fashion sensibility - in order to save money on wardrobe costs. Of course it helps if the actor and director are "sisters in cinema."

That budget secret comes from Gina Kim, who wrote and directed "Never Forever," a visual poem starring Vera Farmiga as a wife who secretly seeks a sperm donor in an effort to save her marriage to a successful Korean-American lawyer. Some of the character's puffy-sleeved, vintage-styled, ethereal dresses seen in the film belong to the director.

In interviews, Kim referred to the actor as her "muse," and the pair laughed when they compared the matching short black velvet jackets they each brought to a press interview. - Ellen Fagg