It's been a long journey, and it's now all coming to a close (or rather, the beginning of a new journey, we could say).
Here's your first good look (via trailer) at Rod Gailes OBC's Soft Focus – the winner of the second Shadow And Act Black Filmmaker Challenge winning script.
The completed film will finally be making its online debut here on S&A before the end of June; However, those of you in New York will be able to see it much earlier (as in next week Wednesday, June 13), and in a theatrical setting, as part of a retrospective of Rod's work, which will feature the premiere of Soft Focus, which stars Damion Omar Lee, Angela Lewis, Madeleine Dauzart, and introducing Aaron Clifton Moten (currently appearing in the hit Broadway play, A Streetcar Named Desire).
Selected as the 2nd Shadow And Act Filmmaker Script Challenge Winner in 2011, Soft Focus is a portrait of Marcus…
… a repressed college student pursuing a deeper carnal knowledge to escape his religiously strident home life.
The NYC event will be hosted by Rod himself, along with a few special guests, and will include his provocative and controversial works (you might recall his short film Earl's Post-Prison Playdate – a provocative look at HIV/AIDS, featured on S&A in April, and which generated lots of discussion across the web); also expected is a sneak peak at the his upcoming work Reverse Cowgirl.
Having seen some of Rod's work, I can say that one thing that's guaranteed is, regardless of what you may think about them, you won't soon forget them. Post-screening discussions/debates can be expected; and I'm sure the same will happen with Soft Focus. As with the first Shadow And Act Filmmaker Challenge winner, Nikyatu Jusu and her Black Swan Theory script, which most of you have probably already seen, it's the kind of work that challenges the homogeneity that I think is really killing cinema right now – especially here in the USA.
The event will be held next week Wednesday, June 13, at NYU Cantor Film Center, 36 East 8th Street, beginning at 7pm.
For you NYC folks, click HERE to pre-purchase tickets to the retro; the are $10 each. The rest of you, stay tuned.
Watch the trailer premiere below: