After a clash with a client goes viral, a lawyer infamous for defending despicable men volunteers at a women’s legal aid clinic run by her uber-feminist mother, hoping to turn over a new leaf without tearing down the whole family tree.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Julie Sheppard
Mad: Hannah Ehman
Kailey: Kyana Teresa
After her father’s death and Margo, an evil step-mother by all accounts, stops helping Willa pay for school escaping to Greenwich Village is Willa’s only option. Though she doesn’t know anyone except her aunt, Willa soon finds a sense of home at Bedford Arms, a place filled with eccentric and strange inhabitants. But Willa is in search of something more as she seeks out her mother and possibly a deeper understanding of herself. There’s plenty of room for Willa to grow into her own over the course of a series and that is why this story works. Though there are subtle hints of the supernatural early in this story, the grounded motives and goals provide a perfect balance.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Mother/Phyllis: Julie Sheppard
Willa: Hannah Ehman
Margo: Kyana Teresa
Maria Brendle is an award-winning director and scriptwriter based in Zurich, Switzerland. She received her bachelor’s degree in film from the Zurich University of the Arts and her master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience (aon) from the Academy of Neurosciense Cologne. Maria graduated the renowned Drehbuchwerkstatt Munich. She works with a focus on women issues. http://www.maria-brendle.de
Director Statement
ALA KACHUU – Take and Run tells the story of a young Kyrgyz woman who becomes the victim of a bride kidnapping. Although this custom is prohibited by law in Kyrgyzstan it is still widespread in other regions of the world under the guise of tradition. Only a few girls are able to escape marriage after the kidnapping. Many accept their fate, for fear of being rejected and ostracized.
The film is based on the true fates of young women who have confided their experiences to me during my many years of research. I am convinced that the stories of these women deserve attention. As a filmmaker, I would like to contribute to the sensitization of society for women’s rights and give a voice to those who are rarely heard. The Kyrgyz name for the bride kidnapping is «Ala Kachuu». My aim was to depict its usual course of events, but with a strong character who has the courage to stand up for herself.
Producing the film in a foreign country was a great adventure. Apart from the language barrier, it was also necessary to bring together two completely different cultures. The respectful interaction with each other, the intercultural team spirit and the openness of the Kyrgyz people impressed me deeply and led to one of the most valuable experiences in my life.
Sezim (19) wants to fulfil her dream of studying in the Kyrgyz capital when she gets kidnapped by a group of young men and taken to the hinterland. There she’s forced to marry a stranger. If she refuses the marriage, she is threatened with social stigmatization and exclusion. Torn between her desire for freedom and the constraints of Kyrgyz culture, Sezim desperately seeks for a way out.
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News & Reviews
Director Statement
The idea of “The Light Thief” first came to life in the year 2012 while I was attending the Berlin Film Festival. It was snowing and I was walking back to my hotel after an evening screening. On the way there, some elements of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” started playing in my mind and with it, the characters of Adham (with a Jar) and Soleen began to materialize. It was twelve o’clock at midnight.
By the time I fell asleep at seven o’clock in the morning I had recorded to paper the full outline of “The Light Thief”. So the storyline started from a waking vision and turned into movie reality over the next two years of planning and execution.
I chose the character names purposefully, as Adham – in the Arabic Language – means absolute darkness, and Soleen in the Syriac Language means the Sun.
Once the storyline was fully developed I started to think hard about the choice of both the shooting location and the production team. Although the basic premise of the story was simple, the film would need to capture very delicate and sensitive nuances in order to work effectively as the failure of any single element could easily lead to failure of the entire film.
After looking for cities that would communicate the image I intended for the film and talking to production crews available locally in those locations, I shortlisted two offers that could convey what I want artistically and would work from a budgeting point of view: one from Turkey (Istanbul) and the other from Spain (Madrid). Although the Turkish offer was slightly more competitive, I settled eventually on Madrid as the city and the language (Spanish) appealed to me a bit more. In addition, I found the faces of the actors in Madrid to be a blend of beauty and features that mix the East and West. That in itself is a source of great strength for the film as I wanted it to be a border-less story that took place somewhere on earth in a country with people who resemble us wherever we are. The purpose of my film is to be suitable for every time and place, and be a film where any person, who went through a love affair and suffered from a broken heart, would be able to relate to. And that was exactly what I have found in Madrid which I passionately loved from my first week there.
But there was also a new challenge that faced me, namely the Spanish Language which was to be the language of the film and is of course the language of my Spanish production crew, as I speak only Arabic and English.
Someone asked me: How shall you overcome the language problem?
Of course, I was not worried about the film, as the dialogue was going to be rather short, and I knew I could seek the assistance of a translator to understand the dialogue of my actors in Spanish if needed. The good thing was that after the first day of working with my cast I began to feel peace of mind because I found communication was not going to be an issue. In part this was due because of some similarity of words between Arabic and Spanish and in addition I found the body language easy to read. I could understand most of my crew’s Spanish conversation, and when they would repeat them to me in English in order to get my opinion, they would be surprised that would I interrupt their explanation and give them the answer … in English of course. Eventually they became under the impression that I know Spanish to the extent that one of them told me: “I don’t believe that you don’t speak Spanish!” I consider that challenge as one of the most beautiful challenges that I encountered in my life
I was blessed to work with an excellent, dedicated, highly professional and well reputed filming and production crew. The dedication was demonstrable over several days when we would continue filming well into the late hours at night outdoors in extreme cold temperatures (below zero) without any complaints. A very positive element was the belief and conviction of the work team with the film. Not only did they really like the story of the film but they also wanted to leave a distinct impression with an Arab woman who came with her material in order to shoot a film in their country.
So really the project materialized from a concept into a movie picture by virtue of multiple efforts of people that united and cooperated in a collective and masterful well-done work, in which everyone participated down from the helpers up to the director. The whole experience acquired from working with a very professional crew in a new country and with a language that was foreign to me helped me develop my learning in the business tremendously. I loved Spanish, a language of “Beauty”. I was lucky to work with a magnificent group, who are my partners in building the success story of “The Light Thief”.
Macgregor, my director of Photography impressed me with the grace and finesse of his lens, and its way of movement. We used to sit together for a long time talking about the scenes, and I was quite certain that I am in good hands in terms of the beauty of the picture and the excellence of lighting. It was quite enough that I tell him the timing of the scene, and just like magic, he would prepare the adequate lighting for the location.
We had very long working days as I mentioned earlier. Once I found him taking a nap on his chair after we had worked for about 15 hours. I asked him “Are you very tired? … I am extremely sorry having exhausted you today”. He replied with half-closed eyes: “I’m very tired, but I am also very interested… so you don’t have to be sorry”.
Marta started as the masterful Art Director in the beginning of the project and then after we finished shooting the film she became my key manager in directing the post production activities for the film. From her presence first in the Sets and her care about the most tiny details, Marta was present with me despite the pressure of work that was put on her shoulders with regard to the work entrusted to her. Her focus and activity were always at a peak level of determination and high spirit. She rarely has time to eat and therefore she was as light as feather When Marta moved to become my right hand in post-production operations she did not disappoint. She was very thorough and keen to follow up all remarks. I had no difficulty to explain to her what was needed as she had adopted the film and understood it exactly. Her opinions on various issues were insightful and spot on. I would like to tell her something that she does not know: her presence with me in the first week when we made the acquaintance, was the main key in giving me the confidence of filming in a country whose language I did not master. I hoped that our relation would become more than purely professional and I knew in heart that she would become my friend in life. Today Marta is a very dear close friend and confidant.
My leading actress Maria, playing the character of Soleen in the film, is an intelligent young woman. Maria’s creative talent allowed her to portray very well the complex psychological states which Soleen had to go through. Maria worked with me in filming conditions outside under the rain where the temperature was below zero while she was wearing only a light summer dress. I was worried about her. But she did not complain or show uneasiness. There was a scene where she would be subjected to physical violence and she was actually stricken with some bruises. When I asked about her condition, she would tell me “No problem … the character needs all that, and she wants to make in the best possible manner.” When she finished photographing her scenes with us, she called me and said “I feel very sad. I do not want to get Soleen out of me. I don’t want to forget her.”
Sergio was the main Editor. When I met with Sergio for the first time, I noticed in his eyes matchless intelligence and passion. I had prepared myself to direct him about the details and the sequence of events of my film in the way I wish. But when I heard his explanation of what he has understood from the story of the film, I told him: “I was the writer of that film. But when I became the Director, I killed the writer inside me, and brought out the Director. Now you have to kill both of us: the writer as well as the director and give the best of your creativity”. That he did!
The music composition is a key piece of what makes the Light Thief work so well. My very talented musicians Jorge and Pablo produced a fantastic piece of work. When I first met them, I told them that I passionately like a certain type of school of the film music, a modern one. A few weeks later they presented to me a piece of music as a model to see whether or not we are on the right track and indeed it was much more beautiful than I expected to the extent that when I was in the studio to attend the film with the music I was so engrossed with the music and did not really watch the film while listening to the music so I had to ask them to replay the two together again.
When the essence of Love is snatched from someone and locked away in a vessel with no name , what happens to those persons and how do they change? How can the broken hearted souls break that curse and recover from their pain? Can they regain their spark by overcoming dark supernatural forces?
Yael and Omer meet Omer’s good friend from Italy, Paulo. They enter a party and inside they experience a night they will never forget. Love, passion, trust, alcohol, drugs, techno, and euphoria.
Director Biography – Sharon Israeli
My name is Janice Derosier and I’m an aspiring Haitian-American filmmaker! I’m currently a senior at the University of Central Florida majoring in Film with a minor in Creative writing. I have been writing stories since I was 11 years old. Last year I made my first short film dealing with a dark subject matter and I can’t wait to share my art with the rest of the world!
Andrew notices that his daughter Olivia has been acting a bit strange during their road trip. After a quick restroom break at a nearby coffee shop, things start to unravel about Olivia’s weird behavior.
Project Links
Dalton Snider-Smith, 22, is an extremely ambitious college student, writer, and director. She’s been writing short, feature, and episodic screenplays from the age of ten. Fantasy Master is her official directorial debut, but she is already looking forward to her next project and beyond as she finishes her degree in filmmaking, a B.F.A. at Montclair State University.Dalton also has an extensive background in theater and comedic improvisation, having directed and performed in numerous productions. She especially loves to use what she learned as an actor to connect more deeply with the actors in her film. With her work she hopes to tell stories both personal to her yet universally relatable through emotional response.
Director Statement
This film, to me, is about reconnecting with the people most important to you. In the face of tragedy and mental illness, distance can so easily grow in families/friendships and that gap can feel impossible to bridge. I believe this is a feeling many, including myself, can relate to. In this, a girl looks around and realizes she is tired of pushing people away. She uses a childhood game to try and rebuild those relationships, but her greatest challenge becomes whether she can come to terms with the fact that perfection in relationships—and games—simply might not exist.
