It is five years later. Sitting at his desk and staring at a calendar, Paul has just decided to mark the fifth anniversary of his wife's death, by swimming the length of the Hudson River, all 150-miles of it, from Troy, New York to the Verazzanno Bridge in New York City.
Both tragic and surprisingly humorous, AGAINST THE CURRENT is a compelling and uncompromising exploration of grief and loss, one's right to determine their own fate, and the limits and responsibilities of friendship.
]]> PAUL THOMPSON is a successful thirty-something financial writer and a happy expectant father. He and his very pregnant wife, AMY, are strolling through their quaint Brooklyn neighborhood when suddenly she is struck and killed in a horrible accident.It is five years later. Sitting at his desk and staring at a calendar, Paul has just decided to mark the fifth anniversary of his wife's death, by swimming the length of the Hudson River, all 150-miles of it, from Troy, New York to the Verazzanno Bridge in New York City.
Both tragic and surprisingly humorous, AGAINST THE CURRENT is a compelling and uncompromising exploration of grief and loss, one's right to determine their own fate, and the limits and responsibilities of friendship.
]]>
Forest Grove is a modern day fairy tale with nods to Pinnocchio, Blue Velvet, and The Swimmer. It is the story of Charlie Williams, a young boy on the verge of 14, who on one hot summer day accepts a dare to swim through the backyard pools of his gated community. More fake than real, Forest Grove sells safety, security, and peace of mind to conservative homeowners who hide behind well-manicured lawns and big, bright smiles. With each pool he swims, Charlie uncovers a world lived in desperation and fear, a world not so different from the one just outside the district's protective gates. However, as Charlie jumps fences and dips in and out of neighbors' lives, his cover story begins to unravel...Charlie doesn't belong here. He is a runaway. But he isn't running away from Forest Grove, he's running into it. As his fantasy life comes crashing down around him, Charlie must come to terms with the dark secret that brought him to Forest Grove before it catches up with him.
At the age of eight, Kansas youngsters Neil and Brian played on the same little league baseball team. Now, ten years later, the two boys couldn't be more different. Neil is a charismatic but emotionally aloof male hustler while Brian is a nervous introvert obsessed with the idea that he has been abducted by a UFO. When the boys' parallel lives inevitably intersect, the pair unearth dark, repressed secrets on a harrowing and unforgettable journey of self-discovery.
Inside the Hell House, tour guides dressed as demons take visitors from room to room to view depictions of school massacres, date rape, AIDS-related deaths, fatal drunk driving crashes, and botched abortions. Hell Houses have now spread to hundreds of churches worldwide. With full access to the behind-the-scenes action, HELL HOUSE follows the process from the first script meeting until the last of the 10,000 visitors passes through the Hell House doors. The movie gives a verite window into the whole process of creating this over-the-top sermon, while showing an intimate portrait of the people who fervently believe its message. The film also features a score by Bubba and Matthew Kadane, formerly of the band Bedhead.
Inside the Hell House, tour guides dressed as demons take visitors from room to room to view depictions of school massacres, date rape, AIDS-related deaths, fatal drunk driving crashes, and botched abortions. Hell Houses have now spread to hundreds of churches worldwide. With full access to the behind-the-scenes action, HELL HOUSE follows the process from the first script meeting until the last of the 10,000 visitors passes through the Hell House doors. The movie gives a verite window into the whole process of creating this over-the-top sermon, while showing an intimate portrait of the people who fervently believe its message. The film also features a score by Bubba and Matthew Kadane, formerly of the band Bedhead.
]]>
The DVD is now available:
Read DVD reviews here:
www.efilmcritic.com
www.GreenCine.com
www.theflickerproject.com
www.contactmusic.com
www.filmforward.com
www.metromix.com
With the help of Beat Box pioneers DOUG E. FRESH, BIZ MARKIE, and THE FAT BOYS, Breath Control traces this art form from it's basic beat beginnings in the Eighties to it's present day multi-layered, polyrhythmatic figurehead's RAHZEL and SCRATCH of the Hip Hop group THE ROOTS. But Breath Control isn't limited to Hip Hop. Musician ZAP MAMA opens up the idea that human beat boxing is an artform practiced all over the world and has been refined by many different cultures. Breath Control is a half historical, half tutorial look at humans as actual instruments.
The Station Agent is about three people with nothing in common, except their shared solitude, until chance circumstances bring their lives together. Before long, from this forgotten depot, this mismatched threesome forges an unlikely bond, which ultimately reveals that even isolation is better shared.
In ROAD, Margaret (Catherine Kellner), a freelance photographer on her first big job, uses the latest government-supplied technology to survey environmental disaster areas. Jay(Ebon Moss-Bachrach), her unemployed ex-boyfriend is along for the ride. The trip does not go exactly as planned and through their own moral lapses, the act of a fickle God or maybe just a paranoid delusion - the couple are forced to confront their relationships to the environment, the world at large and each other.
]]>"charming..." -- sight and sound
"...ingenious and even poignant." -- filmmaker magazine
"interaction of a different stripe..." -- wired magazine
"the new arrival" is the world's first immersive movie. shot on 360-degree behere ivideo, an immersive movie provides a new experience in which the viewer can navigate him/herself through a scene, able to choose any of the 360-degree view.
"the new arrival" was unveiled by atomfilms.com at the cannes international film market in 2000, where it was critically acclaimed. it went on to screen in the sundance and rotterdam online film festivals as well as being presented at the pompidou museum in paris as an example of a "film of tomorrow."
"the new arrival" was an online hit, for which the new york times named amy talkington "one of the few women to break out on the internet."
"the new arrival" eventually landed in a commonly used film textbook, "film: an introduction," as an important example of early interactive storytelling.
[the clip above is a making of short. the original film is no longer viewable as the technology was not maintained]
The new arrival is the world's first immersive movie. Shot on 360-degree behere ivideo, an immersive movie provides a new experience in which the viewer can navigate him/herself through a scene, able to choose any of the 360-degree view. It's a new way of telling stories distinctly for the internet.
synopsis:
The new arrival is a surreal tale about the departure of an old friend. Its twist ending makes viewers curious to watch it again and again.
press:
"****...A small jewel of a film...Dazzling."
- Premiere Magazine
"charming..."
- Sight and Sound
"...ingenious and even poignant."
-Filmmaker Magazine
"Interaction of a different stripe..."
- Wired
now showing:
the new arrival can be seen exclusively on atomfilms.com, where it has been ranked of one of the top-ten most watched films.
]]>