Young director's film is a 'Green' monster

By Meredith Deliso

Meet the Orson Welles of indie cinema.

For her debut feature length debut, Greenpoint filmmaker Sophia Takal directed, wrote and starred in the psychodrama “Green,” a nuanced examination of love and jealousy that won a directing award at SXSW this spring.

“Green,” which screens tonight at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of its annual film festival, BAMcinemaFest, follows a young, intellectual Brooklyn couple, Sebastian and Genevieve, who move to the South so Sebastian can blog about sustainable farming. There, they immediately befriend their invasive, simple neighbor, Robin (played endearingly by Takal). As the couple’s relationship hits some bumps, Genevieve fears Robin and Sebastian are up to no good, and she quickly suffers a mental meltdown.

The plot was born out of the director’s own battles with the green goblin.

“I’m really jealous, and it happens in a flash,” said Takal. “I wanted to capture that abrupt shift in someone’s psychology.”

In the ultimate test, Takal had the Brooklyn couple played by her fiancé, Lawrence Michael Levine (who directed last year’s indie comedy, “Gabi on the Roof in July”), and their housemate, Kate Lyn Sheil. Thanks to some realistic conversations about sex, the two have more than a few intimate scenes together in the film.

“It was so much easier to shoot than I expected, though I’d still feel jealous occasionally,” said Takal. “After doing a sex scene, I would just tell Larry to only pay attention to me between takes.”

As they say, it’s not easy being green.

“Green” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music [651 Fulton St. near between Rockwell and Ashland places in Fort Greene, (718) 636-4100], June 22 at 9:15 pm. Tickets $13. Followed by a Q and A with the director. For info, visit www.bam.org. 

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Calling all filmmakers

We may be in the midst of the Brooklyn Film Festival, but here's the word about the Brooklyn Girl Film Festival.

The new film festival focuses, naturally, on films by women, and is seeking entries for a premiere in March of next year.

According to the release we got, the goal of the new event is to "showcase the work of [female] filmmakers around the globe. From serious documentaries to light-hearted comedies, Brooklyn Girl Film Festival seeks to empower women and their unique and relevant interpretation of the world around them and strengthen the community of [female] filmmakers."

So if you might be the next Sophia Coppola, send your feature, documentary, short, animation or experimental film — which much feature a woman as director, writer, producer or lead animator — by Aug. 1 through Withoutabox. Entry fees are $55 for feature films and $30 for shorts.

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Park Slope, muse

A scene from "Alone."

Filmmakers near and far have found their muse: Park Slope.

Neighborhood native Jason Cusato drew on the area for his latest film, "The Apostles of Park Slope,"which is premiering this weekend at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

Based off real-life experience, "Apostles" tells the story of a group of friends who try to cheer up a pal after he loses his mother, among them a priest who is trying to bring back congregants to St. Thomas Aquinas. True to its name, the film is based in Park Slope, shot at the church, located on Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street, as well as Two Toms on Third Avenue, where the idea for the movie originated after a raucous night out there.

The film runs at the Brooklyn Lyceum (227 Fourth Ave.) January 9-16. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Working in short-form, using a hand-held camera, Daniel Johnson has a knack for rolling up on a place, dropping his bags and cranking out scripts after soaking in the local color. The Brit did just that in Park Slope recently, shooting the short film "Alone," filmed at the Gorilla Coffee shop on Fifth Avenue.

Shooting in the neighborhood was an inspiration to the filmmaker, who has since flown back to London and is working on post-production.

“There are 200 writers here,” he told the Courier. “You could feel dwarfed by it. But I actually find it inspiring. Everyone is creative and really positive. It helps.”

Apparently so.

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Absolutely no sleep 'til Seattle

By Matthew Hughes

The glitz of the West Coast viewed from the derricks and cranes of New Jersey would drive any teenager to run away from home.

The short, “Before We Get to Seattle,” may be about a cross country road trip to Seattle, by way of New Jersey, but it was written, produced and filmed in Brooklyn by filmmaking team April Mosqus and Adam Linn.

Set in 1992, at the height of the grunge rock era, the short chronicles the desires of Chloe, Michelle and Leo, three teenagers who want to trade New Jersey for Seattle — basically it’s the Odyssey for gutter punks.

“You could call it a coming of age story, but I personally never like that term,” said Mosqus, who co-wrote and directed the film. “It’s about saying goodbye, how relationships change and how aspects of them continue.”

The 10-minute short was filmed at two Brooklyn locations, including a former high school in Greenpoint and the 24 Hour Prospect Park Deli at Prospect Park West and 16th street in Park Slope. Mosqus and Linn both live in South Park Slope and felt that Brooklyn could easily stand in for New Jersey.

“Since the film is set in an urban part of New Jersey, we knew the look would capture the essence. This allowed us to remain local in Brooklyn,” said Mosqus.
Presently the film is undergoing sound editing. Additional funds are also needed because of song licensing. Once post-production is complete it’s the goal of Mosqus and Linn to screen the film.

“It’s our job to ensure that the film is screened at the most prestigious film festivals, where a wide audience can appreciate it. The Brooklyn International Film Festival is definitely on our list, and we would be honored to screen there,” said Mosqus.

Mosqus and Linn have also written a screenplay called “Heartbreaker,” which touches on the same themes of “Before We Get to Seattle.” Mosqus and Linn want to work toward getting the full-length "Heartbreaker" produced.

“We hope that by screening ‘Before We Get to Seattle’ we’ll attract producers and talent who will want to work with us to get ‘Heartbreaker’ to the big screen,” said Mosqus.

Mosqus calls “Before We Get to Seattle” “a rock n’ roll dark comedy.” She is also thrilled about the early response to the short.

“Considering how successful the response has been to our Facebook fan page,” she said, “we know there is a huge audience hungry for a grunge rock film.”

“Before we Get to Seattle” was written, produced and filmed in Brooklyn by April Mosqus and Adam Linn. The main characters of Chole, Michelle and Leo are portrayed by Claire Buckingham, Claire Natale, and John Cappelli, respectively.

Photo by Sasha Maslov

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“Inglourious” is bloody glorious!

"Inglourious Basterds"
Three Stars

By Thomas Tracy

Somewhere deep in everyone’s heart of hearts, we wished the Jews persecuted in World War II got medieval on their Nazi oppressors — at least a little.

This wish comes true in the gloriously bloody, gloriously violent “Inglourious Basterds.”In the alternate reality fantasy helmed by writer/director Quentin Tarantino (“Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir Dogs”) a scene-stealing Brad Pitt gathers together a dirty, dastardly and downright dangerous dozen of Jewish soldiers and goes across occupied France to exact some righteous vengeance on whatever German officer they come across in probably one of the sickest, twisted guerrilla wars ever captured on celluloid.

The deadly crew are after Nazi scalps. If one of their victims doesn’t have hair, they settle for carving a Nazi symbol in their foreheads with a big-ass Bowie knife they wield with vicious glee.

Pitt shucks off his pretty boy image as he slips on the cigar-chomping, carnage-loving southern lieutenant that leads the motley crew of murderous malcontents with a bone-head bravado that you can’t help but treasure (you almost giggle every time he says “Nazis,” which somehow comes out as “Naatzeys”).

But he and his team are one part of a much bigger picture. The team gets to increase their body count — and maybe even take out Adolf Hitler himself — during a ballsy plan to blow up a French theater run by a Jewish escapee-turned-Parisian socialite (Melanie Laurent).At the same time an evil Nazi Colonel (played to perfection by European actor Christoph Waltz) who can be just as vicious as the Basterds is hot on the crew’s trial.

Much like “Pulp Fiction,” Tarantino focuses on the three leads and then link them together through a series of explosive coincidences.

The audience is left riveted thanks to Tarantino’s signature rapid fire, off-the-wall dialogue that doesn’t manage to get lost in the translation (most of the movie is spoken in French and German).

“Inglourious Basterds.” Starring Brad Pitt and Melanie Laurent. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Running time: 153 minutes. Rated R for strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality.

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'Hachet Man' cuts a wide swath

By Junico Simino

With a $350,000 grand prize and a guaranteed spot at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Williamsburg filmmaker Ivan Hurzeler couldn’t resist the temptation of entering his film “Hatchet Man” in the Netflix-sponsored “Find your Voice” film competition.

A short film about an ad agency employee, the premise of “Hatchet Man” may sound familiar to those who remember reading about last year’s sex tape controversy with the BBDO ad agency. Hurzeler, who was a freelancer for BBDO at the time the video came out, based his film on that incident as he tells the story of a man who always does the right thing but finds unexpected freedom when he does something bad for the first time.

The short film, a cross between a drama and comedy, stars Matt Boren and Billy Warlock of “Baywatch,” and was produced by Hurzeler’s fiance, Cami Delavigne, as well as friends Julian Katz and Alexis Fish. The film takes place in New York City.

Currently in ninth place in the Netflix competition, which accepted either trailers or short films, “Hatchet Man” was the only short among the 2,000 entries. The top 10 will be judged by the general public to determine the final five (watch and vote for it here), which will then be judged by a committee, Which is headed by actor Josh Brolin, to determine the winner.


A South Bronx native, Hurzeler has lived in Brooklyn for more than 10 years, four of which have been spent in Williamsburg. He said that most of his inspiration and help comes from his friends who all live in Brooklyn. Hurzeler has worked on such films as “Sling Blade,” “Wet Hot American Summer,” and “Origin of the Species.”

The filmmaker describes “Hatchet Man” as a piece of “American neo-realism” inspired by the American realist writers of the early 20th century. Hurzeler also cites 2005’s “Junebug” as an inspiration for the style of filmmaking he implored in his short film, which he and his fiance have put everything into to make.

“We’ve spent our entire savings” said Delavigne on producing “Hatchet Man,” which cost $10,000 and was shot in downtown Manhattan.

A Brooklyn resident for the past seven years, Delavigne has some projects of her own coming up, including the upcoming feature length comedy “Blue Valentine,” staring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, which she co-wrote.

If Hurzeler wins the grand prize, he plans on using the money to make his next project, the feature length film “Church,” also written by Delavigne.

“Her [Delavigne] script combined with my style equals something pretty unique” said Hurzeler, who added that he enjoys making “ironic” movies, while Delavigne enjoys doing comedies.

A thriller about a Christian pastor who attempts to “save his church by committing the ultimate sin,” Hurzeler describes “Church” as having “its morals in the gray area; there are no right or wrongs.” He said that part of the inspiration for “Church” comes from living in Brooklyn. He wanted to do a film that showed the similarities between people living in the city and those in the Midwest. The film teaches you to love your neighbor, no matter where they come from.

“It’s is a place where you live next to many different types of people.” Hurzeler said about living in Brooklyn, “You have to understand 20 different accents in a day.”

He hopes to complete the film by next April to have it ready for submission into the L.A. Film Festival by June 2010. And having $350,000, as well as the production and distribution help for your next film, certainly won’t hurt.

“Making a movie is like saying you want to join the NBA,” said Hurzeler. “It’s that hard.”

You can help Hurzeler reach the finals and get a shot at that top prize by voting for his film online at www.netflixfindyourvoice.com. Voting ends July 6.

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