My Left Hand Man

As a continuing desire to support industry friends, and in setting the mood for the Sunscreen Film Festival in a few weeks (we will be giving it the LIIFE treatment for sure), we will start doing some more smaller pieces dealing with indie films that few may have heard of. 

First off is "My Left Hand Man" directed by Antonia Bogdanovich who is an avid reader of this blog and whose film has made some major strides at numerous film festivals across the country. We had a chance to watch the film and then had an amicable exchange with Antonia which I will remit to the best of my ability. 

For the uninitiated (I believe there may be many, but soon there won't be), the film deals with Samuel, a young man, whose Shakespeare fanatic/alcoholic father forces him to recite Shakespeare in the streets while his older brother Beckett pickpockets. However, Samuel dreams of being freed from this life.  Everything goes awry for Samuel and his family when Sam's father neglects to pay off some people he owes money to. This escalates in a Shakespearean climax if there ever was one. I'll let you use your imagination to figure out that one. 

The film has been a pretty big success at the festival circuit where it has been/will be screened at the : Memphis International Film and Music Fest, West Chester FF (nominated for Best Female Filmmaker), Bootleg Film Festival, and Madrid International Film Festival (several nominations for the film). It recently won the New Jersey Film Festival for Short film. 

According to Antonia, there are already plans to expand the film into a feature (which is certainly what I felt was the next step after watching the film) and a first draft has already been written. For obvious reasons, we won't go much into details about what the plans for the feature are, but it certainly makes for a film to keep an eye on when it is made and released.   

The Forgiveness of Blood Review

By David Salazar


Despite the controversy that this film has created, there is no denying the raw power of "Forgiveness of Blood."
 

Set in rural Albania, the story details the growth of an adolescent set against the background of a feud between neighboring families over property. Mark (Refet Abazi), father of 4 children, constantly "trespasses" over his neighbor Sokol's (Veton Osmon) territory in order to shortcut his way into the village. Eventually, their arguing escalates when Sokol threatens Mark in front of Rudina, Mark's oldest daughter. Mark naturally runs off, gets his brother and the two men proceed to kill Sokol, invoking not only stringent cultural traditions, but also setting off a chain of events that essentially destroy the unity of Mark's family. 


Director Joshua Marston fluidly integrates such cultural elements as the kanun ( the code that governs local behavior), and the besa (a brief amnesty issued by the party that declares war on another) enabling for the viewer to comprehend the world of the story with greater ease. 

Moonrise Kingdom to open Cannes Film Festival

Wes Anderson's latest film Moonrise Kingdom will open the 65th Cannes Film Festival on May 16. This marks the second American film to open the festival in a row. Last year Woody Allen's Academy award winner "Midnight in Paris" opened the festival to rave reviews.  Moonrise Kingdom stars Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. The film is expected to open in theaters May 25.

Messenger goes to Sunscreen Film Festival

Our short film Messenger will be screened in April at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida. For more information visit their website at http://www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com/.

The Lorax Review

By Francisco Salazar

Dr. Seuss is no stranger to cinema as many of his beloved books have been turned into movie. First came "The Grinch who stole Christmas", then "The Cat in the Hat" and finally "Horton Hears a   Who." All these films have not only brought the distinguished author's magical worlds to life, but have also brought great revenue as well. As a result it is no surprise that the studios would bring yet another one of his beloved books to the screen. The Lorax directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) gives us the visual brilliance one has become accustomed to in a Dr. Seuss movie. The film tells the story of Ted a young boy who sets out to find a tree so he can win the love of Audrey. In order to do so he has to leave Thneedville, a Utopian society that lacks any trees, ruled by the powerful Mr.O'Hare who controls the air. Ted escapes the town and through his journey he comes across a decaying world and Once-ler, the man at guilt for the destruction and pollution. Once we arrive at Once-ler's,  the movie starts to pick up as Once-ler explains why he cut down all the trees and why the world became what it is. The use of colors is probably one of the most effective tools used in the film. We start out in a world filled with bright, sparkling colors and once Ted steps out of Thneedville, dark grays permeate the surroundings.

Support "El Limpiador!"

A few months back we posted an article about a recent friend Adrian Saba's latest Feature Film. He is currently in editing stages and needs some more monetary aid in getting this film to the next level.

The film follows a decaying Lima that has been virtually annihilated by an epidemic. At the center of the story is an older man attempting to find an orphan's parents and bring him to safety amid the tragedy around them. The film promises to be quite good (I will be attending a preliminary screening later) and deserves its opportunity on the silver screen.

Here is a link to the campaign page where Adrian Saba not only details his project goals and ideas, but also delights us with some incredible images and wonderful preview of his film: http://www.indiegogo.com/El-Limpiador?c=home&a=467963