FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE PRESENTS AWARD-WINNING FILM "GLISSANDO"
AT THE EGYPTIAN THEATRE
(Read CinemaSpeak's reviews of Glissando and Back Up, Please.)
The acclaimed dramatic feature film Glissando,
winner of a number of awards on the film festival circuit, has
been named the March selection for the Alternative Screen program
at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood. Glissando
will be screened at Hollywood's landmark Egyptian Theatre (6712
Hollywood Boulevard) at 7:30pm on Thursday, March 13, 2003.
Glissando is a heartbreaking coming-of-age film about
a fifteen year-old boy, his troubled father, and the young woman
who comes between them, set in the early 1970s in the desolate
desert town of Gila Bend, Arizona. The film is based on a story
by acclaimed American novelist Robert Boswell, author of Mystery
Ride, Crooked Hearts, and the recently-published Century's
Son. Glissando stars Paul Frediani, Chris Van Strander
and Petra Wright, who can also soon be seen opposite Mark Ruffalo
in the IFC Films April release XX/XY. Glissando was
written and directed by Chip Hourihan, a former director of commercials
and music videos, in his feature film debut.
Glissando has received the Grand Prize for Best Feature
Film at the Arizona International Film Festival, the audience
award for Best Dramatic Feature at the Dahlonega International
Film Festival, was selected as a "best of the fest"
film at Canada's Victoria Film Festival, and was an audience favorite
with two sold-out screenings at the Taos Talking Picture Festival.
Variety called the film "a striking debut for talented helmer-scripter
Chip Hourihan," and wrote that "the bittersweet tone
of Glissando, with fine thesping found in offbeat desert
locations, makes it a small gem deserving wider exposure. Highly
literate father-son road saga, mostly set in the 1970s, is pitched
just right."
Shot in eleven days on digital video with just a four-person crew,
primarily in the southern Arizona desert, Glissando became
known widely, if erroneously, as the "first Dogme period
film." While the film was never submitted for a Dogme95
certification from the organization founded by Danish filmmakers
Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, Glissando embraced
much of the spirit of that movement, which places a far greater
emphasis on character-driven storytelling than on elaborate production
design.
Glissando achieved its early 1970s period look not though
a great deal of set dressing, but through a careful choice of
locations by the film's director, a former location scout for
directors such as Ridley Scott, Tony Kaye, Paul Mazursky and Anton
Corbijn. The cast and crew came to Arizona with just one suitcase
full of period props and wardrobe-- the suitcase itself being
one of the props.
The film has received high praise not only for the power of its
performances, but also for the beauty of its imagery, an unusual
reaction to a digital project. Wrote CinemaSpeak, "thoughtfully
constructed and beautifully shot, Glissando is a downbeat
yet captivating work." The New Haven Advocate wrote that
"Glissando is beautifully shot in black & white
and color. Every frame could be a framed photograph."
Glissando has also received a good deal of acclaim for
its soundtrack, which features pop songs from the early 1970s
reinterpreted for the film by leading contemporary recording artists
including Patti Smith Group founder Lenny Kaye, Emmy award-winner
John Kimbrough, and alt-country favorites Danielle Howle, Tim
Easton, and Drivin' N' Cryin'.
The feature film Glissando will be preceded by a 12 minute
short film, Back Up, Please, written and directed by Douglas
Horn, in its world premiere. In Back Up, Please, four
lives spiral towards tragedy when two cars block each other on
a narrow street. The film stars Karl Bury (The Majestic),
Branden Morgan (U-Boat), Ron Gilbert (The Usual Suspects)
and Light Wilder (Made-Up).
The Alternative Screen is American Cinematheque's ongoing series
focusing on independent and new forms of cinema, and was created
to serve the public as well as the independent film community
in Los Angeles by screening independent feature films that have
not yet secured wide commercial distribution. One select independent
film is chosen to screen each month for one night only at Hollywood's
landmark Egyptian Theatre. Films previously selected for the Alternative
Screen series have included Habit, Star Maps, Wisconsin
Death Trip, Shadow Boxers, Acts Of Worship,
Our Song, and Better Living Through Circuitry.
The American Cinematheque is an acclaimed cultural organization
dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving
Picture in all its forms. The Cinematheque presents the best of
film and video -- ranging form the classics to the outer frontiers
of the art form, and strives to encourage and support new talent
by creating a showcase for their work.
Tickets are $9 general admission; $8 for students/seniors and
$6 for Cinematheque, IFP/West, LACMA MUSE, WGA, DGA and SAG Members.
Glissando director Chip Hourihan, lead actor Petra Wright,
and cinematographer Luke Eder will be present to discuss their
film, and Douglas Horn will present Back Up, Please. All
guests are subject to their availability. All screenings are at
the newly renovated Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the historic Egyptian
(6712 Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas) in
Hollywood.
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