selectie IFFR 2016 - releasedatum 31 maart 2016 www.facebook

selectie IFFR 2016 - releasedatum 31 maart 2016
www.facebook.com/filmfreaklabel
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/151648836
FREE IN DEED
Een film van Jake Mahaffy met David Harewood, Edwina Findley en RaJay Chandler
USA, Nieuw Zeeland / 2015 / Engels gesproken / Drama, 100 min / HD / 16:9 / 5.1
SYNOPSIS
Een misdeelde, zwarte kerkgemeenschap in het zuiden van de VS verwelkomt een nieuwe predikant, gebedsgenezer Abe (Homeland’s
David Harewood).
De introverte Abe vat genegenheid op voor de alleenstaande moeder Selva (Edwina Findley) en haar gekwelde autistische tienerzoon,
voor wie medische zorg geen verlichting brengt.
Alle goede bedoelingen ten spijt, hebben de pogingen van Abe om de jongen te helpen uiteindelijk een noodlottig gevolg.
TECHNISCHE GEGEVENS
Speelduur: 100 minuten | Genre: Drama | Formaat: HD (Arri Alexa)
Aspect Ratio: 16;9 | Geluid: 5.1
Productiebedrijven: Greyshack Films (US), Votiv Films (US)
Vertoningen IFFR 2016:
28/01 12:00 de Doelen Willem Burgerzaal (Press & Industry screening)
In aanwezigheid van de regisseur:
28/01 - 21:30 Pathé 6 | 29/01 - 16:30 Pathé 4
1/2 - 22:30 De Doelen- Juriaanse Zaal | 5/2 - 9:15 LanterenVenster 5
Releasedatum: 31 maart
Premieretheaters: Filmhallen (Amsterdam) Filmhuis Den Haag
Overige theaters TBC
Boekingen: Joop Verdenius, [email protected] | 06-4137 8138
Pers & Marketing: Herrie Film & TV, Noortje van de Sande [email protected] | 020-4868212 | 06-54301094
Charlotte van der Steen, [email protected] | 020-4868212
JAKE MAHAFFY - REGISSEUR
Jake Mahaffy werkt momenteel als professor aan de universiteit van Auckland. Hij produceerde zelf een aantal korte en lange films met
minimaal budget en veelal niet-professionele acteurs in landelijke omgeving. Wellness, Miracle Boy, War en andere films werden vertoond
op internationale festivals als Sundance, Venetie en SXSW (Grand Jury Prize)
Jake groeide op in het midwesten van de VS, studeerde beeldende kunst en film aan de Rhode Island School of Design en het Art Institue of Chicago, en filmregie aan het Russian State Institute of Cinematography. Hij gaf les en produceerde enkele films aan diverse
universiteiten in de VS. Sinds 2012 woont en werkt Jake in Nieuw Zeeland.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
How can a man crush a child to death, while believing the entire time that he is helping him? This was the most infuriating question,
according to news stories that appeared over 12 years ago about an actual faith healing gone wrong. And that’s the question that started
this project… 12 long years ago.
‘Laying hands’ on people to deliver them from any manner of affliction is a common religious practice. If they struggle or the afflicting
spirits fight back, they may need to be restrained. Free In Deed is an ecstatic tragedy about a man with good intentions, compelled to
demonstrate God’s divine love, while being completely unable to connect in any human way with the people living around him.
FILMOGRAFIE
Feature Films:
2015 - Free in Deed (72e Biennale van Venetie)
2008 - Wellness (SXSW Narrative Grand Jury Prize) (IFFR Tiger competition 2008)
2004 - War (Sundance Film Festival) (IFFR 2004)
Korte Films (selectie):
2015 - A.D. 1363, The End of Chivalry (Sundance Film Festival)
2014 - Ivy (installation) / A Running Start
2012 - Miracle Boy (69th Venice Biennale) / Threat Prep / The Sack / Open End
2009 - Motion Studies: The Wax Supper (Sundance Film Festival) / Motion Studies: Zeno’s Paradox
2008 - Motion Studies: Inertia (Sundance Film Festival)
2005 - Motion Studies: Gravity (Sundance Film Festival)
2005 - Motion Studies: Perpetuum Mobile / Motion Studies: Heat
ACTOR DAVID HAREWOOD – ABE WILKINS
David Harewood werd in 1965 geboren in Birmingham, Engeland. Hij studeerde af aan The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art en werd
bekend door rollen in Blood Diamond (2006), Homeland (2011), The Merchant of Venice (2004) en Julie Taymor’s Midsummer Night’s
Dream (2013). In 2009 vertolkte Harewood de rol van Nelson Mandela in de BBC productie Mrs Mandela. Hij was Brother Tuck in de
derde Robin Hood serie, verscheen in Doctor Who: The End Of Time en speelde Martin Luther King op het podium in een stuk van
Katori Hall in Londen. Voor zijn bijdrage aan de podiumkunsten ontving hij in 2012 een lintje van de koningin.
ACTOR EDWINA FINDLEY – MELVA NEDDY
Deze veelzijdige actrice genoot haar opleiding aan de NYU en maakte haar debuut als Tosha Mitchell in de HBO serie The Wire (2002)
Gelijktijdig stond ze op het toneel als Lady Mortimer in Shakespeare’s Henry IV. In de bioscoop was ze te zien als Rosie (2014) in het
bekroonde Middle of Nowhere (2012) Het Ophah Winfrey network strikte haar voor de rol van Kellu Isaacs in If Loving You Is Wrong.
MIKE RYAN: PRODUCER
Mike Ryan is verantwoordelijk voor een opmerkelijke reeks films die hem nominaties opleverden voor de Independent Spirit “Producer
of the Year” Award, en hij was één van Variety’s 2007 “10 Producers to Watch.” Hij ontving onderscheidingen van the Academy Awards,
Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards en vele anderen. Junebug (2005) met Amy Adams zou de film met het laagste productiebudget worden die ooit voor een Oscar werd genomineerd. Verder produceerde Mike ondermeer Todd Solondz’s Palindromes en Life
During Wartime; Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (winaar Rotterdam International Film Festival 2006) en haar Meek’s Cutoff met Michelle
Williams; Ira Sach’s 40 Shades Of Blue (winnaar Sundance Film Festival 2006); Hal Hartley’s Fay Grim, met Parker Posey en Jeff Goldblum; Ilya Chaiken’s Liberty Kid (winnaar HBO’s Latino Film Festival in 2007 en in competitie op het Los Angeles Film Festival), Bela
Tarr’s laatste film, Turin Horse, winnaar Berlin, About Sunny (Toronto ‘11), genomineerd voor een Spirit Award voor Best Actress, The
Co-medy, een drama met komiek Tim Heidecker (Sundance en Rotterdam 2012).
MIKE BOWES: PRODUCER
Mike Bowes verdeelde zijn tijd de afgelopen 15 jaar tussen independent films (Free In Deed, The Greens Are Gone, Red Flag, Rubberneck, Far From Afghanistan, About Sunny, The Mulberry Tree, Don Mckay) en historische documentaires voor de publieke omroep (We
Shall Remain, God In America, Becoming Hellen Keller, Mystery Of Matter) met grootschalige geschiedkundige reenactments als specialiteit.
TIM OXTON: COMPOSER
Tim Oxton is muzikant en filmmaker gevestigd in Boston. Onder de naam Wakes neemt hij surf pop op. Hij maakte eerder soundtracks
voor korte films, maar Free In Deed is zijn eerste feature. Voor de soundtrack gebruikte hij een oud silvertone orgel en gitaar, en andere
traditionele gospel-instrumenten, zij het electronisch bewerkt.
CREDITS
David Harewood als Abe Wilkins
Edwina Findley als Melva Neddy
RaJay Chandler als Benny
Preston Shannon als Bishop
Prophetess Libra als Mother
Helen Bowman als Isabelle
Zoe Lewis als Etta
Kathy Smith als Pearlie
Jake Mahaffy – Scenario, Montage, Regie
Mike S. Ryan – Productie
Mike Bowes, Brent Steifel – Productie
Georgina Allison Conder – Co-productie
Ava Berkofsky – Camera
Jake Mahaffy, Michael Taylor, Simon Price – Montage
C. Michael Andrews – Productiedesign
Jami Villers – Kleding
Tim Oxton – Muziek
Official site: freeindeedfilm.com
PRODUCTION NOTES- By Producer Mike Ryan and Writer/Director Jake Mahaffy
Principal Photography took place entirely in Memphis, Tennessee for 19 days in February 2014.
David Harewood and Edwina Findley flew in to participate in the filming. All other performers were cast from local actors and nonactors. The role of Benny was played by RaJay Chandler in his first appearance on screen. After auditioning dozens of boys from across
the US for the role, Jake finally sat with RaJay in an empty parking lot in Memphis and directed him in a few behavioral aspects of the
boy on whom the Benny character was based. RaJay immediately and completely immersed himself in the part and was clearly the only
choice for the role. Of the two church leaders in the film, Bishop is played by well-known Memphis blues guitarist Preston Shannon.
Prophetess Libra was an R&B singer in the 70’s, who, after hard times and long recovery, founded her ministry and the pentecostal-style
Faith Temple church. Libra agreed to play the role of Mother in the film and after scouting over 30 storefront churches, offered her own
basement church for the film’s main location. Congregants in the film come from her regular church and from other churches across the
city. Libra conducts services as seen in the film on Sundays and Wednesdays each week.
These services involve singing, dancing, individual testimonials, altar calls for healing and deliverance, and sermons. It is a communal
activity. Many storefront churches are family operations, not belonging to a larger denomination or office. Congregations are no larger
then an extended family and some friends. These churches may sometimes provide some social support within the community but always
provide a venue for sharing deep emotional needs.
Faith healings, prayer and deliverance are performed in different ways in different dominations and sects. Generally, the supplicant is
placed within a circle of praying believers. People place their hands on the supplicant directing whatever healing powers they channel
through the divine or ‘holy spirit’. Prayers may be made for physical disease, financial help, psychological distress, or moral conflict. These
conditions are seen as ontologically spiritual afflictions and thus receptive to the power of prayer. The two components of successful
prayers are 1. the holiness and fervency of the praying people; and 2. God’s will in the matter.
In preparation for the role of Abe, British actor David Harewood, immersed himself in the church culture, attending services and bible
study classes. David says, “I knew that Martin Luther King spent his last night on earth in Memphis so committing to this piece had a
very special significance for me. The whole experience felt like a walk through history, a walk through faith. Shooting the church scenes
with those incredible people is something I will never forget, their belief was palpable, vibrant and inspiring. I was in awe of the people
around me everyday.”
The small crew was comprised of mostly all local Memphis filmmakers. The only non-Memphis crew was DoP Ava Bervosky and Wardrobe Designer Jami Villers. The film’s score was composed by young Tim Oxton in his apartment. FREE IN DEED is Tim’s first feature
length film score although he composes surf pop in Boston under his moniker ‘wakes’.
The film was shot on Arri Alexa and post production was completed in New Zealand with support from the New Zealand Film Commission.
INTERVIEW: Questions from Producer Mike Ryan to Writer/Director Jake Mahaffy
What was the attraction for you to this story?
As a child, I had been raised religious (born-again, speaking in tongues, end times rapture, etc.) and then I completely de-converted. So I
have some familiarity with the church environment. I felt I had insights and a synthetic point of view that could provide both empathy
and objectivity to recreate the experience of those actual events without imposing reactionary condescension.
You spent some time with the man on whom the lead character was based. What struck you about his perception of what happened?
I wrote to him while he was in prison. This was an international news story at the time. He wrote back that God had told him to respond
to me alone of all the people that had been contacting him. He maintains that he didn’t crush the child. He said he was fully cognizant
during the prayer service and would have known if he’d put pressure on the boy’s chest. No one got on top of the child and crushed him
as accused. But everyone at that exorcism pled the fifth. The man who was convicted was the only person ever charged and he himself
did not testify in court. He could have killed the child. Or been partly responsible. Or not at fault. I see how the justice system can work.
The facts that the boy was obese, on a bad diet, and on very strong pharmaceuticals (that had been officially indicated to cause ‘sudden
death’ by the FDA) all persuade me of the possibility that a poor man with medieval religious beliefs is easier to prosecute than a billiondollar drug corporation.
What happened after he was arrested? What was revealed in the trial?
He went to trial and was convicted of ‘felony child abuse’. He served three years in prison and seven on parole. The trial revealed that
the boy was on new medications at the time he died. Church members insist they were doing exactly what God told them to do. The
outcome of ‘following God’s word’ is secondary to the practice of their faith.
How does this film differ from your past two features?
This is the first produced film I’ve directed. All of my previous films I made singlehandedly without a crew, budget or professional
cast. Those ‘no-budget’ films I made on my own, serving all roles except performing in front of camera. They were shot more organically, over longer periods of time, when I could develop characters and narrative obliquely, from the inside out, like you might
a documentary subject. The film becomes a story of its own process that way. FREE IN DEED was a more conventional shoot
jammed into 18 days and I served as a writer/director on it.
You’ve been working on this project for over 10 years, what changed when comparing the writing to the final film?
I lost count. Endless changes. It was difficult especially after spending 10 years writing and visualizing just how to shoot the film. All
of that planning and ruminating came down to an actual day in an actual place with actual people. I knew beforehand that there was
never any chance of shooting the script. But I wasn’t yet sure how working with a crew might change my usual process. But because
of that long arc, my expectations and hopes had become a bit petrified over the years.
This film mixes professional actors with non-professional actors who are members of an actual church that we see in the film. Was that challenging?
Everything was a challenge. I have experience working with non-actor performers and I can usually manage to get usable work from
them. We had our leads in the midst of real church worship scenes or in dialogue with non-actors. We ran the church services for real.
They are genuine. Just because they aren’t held on Sunday morning or we cast a composite congregation doesn’t affect the authenticity
of the people participating in those services.
Prophetess Libra would get started whipping it up, playing music and doing altar calls and we would move through the space, placing our actors for scenes. When we got a take I’d call ‘cut’ and we’d do it all over again, gradually piecing it together. The energy and
stamina in that group was stunning.
The film is set in Memphis, not the same city where the actual event occurred. What did Memphis bring to this film?
Memphis has an epic reputation for soul. The historical talent among the people in the city is profound. And there are small storefront
or home-based churches on almost every corner. It is a unique place in the world. It was the perfect location: culturally and aesthetically and symbolically in many ways.
Making a film based on actual events like this must have been an incredible challenge. In what did you try to be totally truthful? And when instead did you
create something completely fictional, and why?
The ‘inspired by a true story’ aspect made it much easier. Having actual events to reference is helpful to build structure and character.
It’s fine if the plot is changed as long as the theme is truthful. Perspective and emotion are more important. The film had to be an
ecstatic tragedy; the tone of uplift combined with a narrative of despair to recreate the cognitive dissonance and felt experience of a
person who holds more strongly to a belief the more they suffer for it.
The film depicts the process by which someone is brought into the church and persuaded to believe in something that seems irrational. Do you see any parallels
in this process to the current trend of extreme religious groups recruiting members who are emotionally and financially desperate?
Yes, I understand where your question leads but to me a religion is just one microcosm of irrationality, not the penultimate example.
It’s an easy target in that regard. The dominant financial and political system is profoundly irrational for at least 99% of the humans
(and 100% of nature) on earth. Yet we allow or perpetuate it. Most people are believers at their own expense.
What was your purpose in making this film?
With filmmaking there is some personal satisfaction in just creating a new experience that reflects one’s internal schema. I’m aware
that my own perspective is unique and it won’t resonate with a lot of people. But the fact alone of molding time and experience and
emotion into a livable moment is the attraction of making any film.
Thematically, I was interested in the gap between religious and scientific worldviews and the implicit assumptions made about reality, and
the gap between expressing divine and human love, in Abe’s and Melva’s parallel but competing attempts for connection.
It took over 10 years for you to make this film. Has something changed inside of you meanwhile? Do you feel the passing of time affected your creative work?
I’ve changed a lot in the past 10 years. I barely recognize myself from the time I started the project. So by the time we finally, actually
began production I had to try and reimagine the script to match the newer interests of a different person.
I’d outgrown those parts of the project that had inspired me originally so I tried to recreate something new from the inside out. One
example of this was introducing some sexuality and a relationship between the two main characters, which didn’t exist at all in the ‘true
story’. That’s a movie trope of course but it helped me to stay interested in the project towards the end and added some dimensionality
to the narrative.
You had the opportunity to work on your script at the Sundance Institute Writer’s & Director’s Labs. What did those experiences add to your story?
The Sundance Labs were thoroughly fantastic. Work-shopping the script and seeing what actors bring to dialogue; adding subtext and
an emotional narrative, that didn’t exist on the page: that was a revelation to me. There is a lot of religious language in the script and it
was a challenge explaining to other people that what is being said is not the topic but how things are said. Religious-speak, like legalese,
creates a virtual reality with a tone of magical authority. It is a coded language primed for subtext.
A very sensitive theme to handle; inspired by a shocking ‘true story’; and powerful, torn characters to narrate and question… How did you work to shape all
that complex matter?
Directing is part of the writing process. Editing as well. We only have to hit a few key plot points in the film. The rest of the story is just
what viewers tell themselves about their experience. Theme is primary to plot because it is associative. It evokes emotional responses and
allows a viewer to engage in the understanding of the film (as opposed to being told what the film is doing through exposition).
Photographic imagery is literal. So finding ellipses, gaps, and juxtapositions in the ‘story’ are some ways to reintroduce mystery and visual
emotion into the film. There is a balance to be found (and everyone has their individual preferences) between explicit and inferred narrative. There should be just enough plot to maintain attention and clarity without smothering the livability of the film.
Jake, you’ve had a pretty unique artistic path so far. You made bold experimental micro-budget shorts and features, which caught the attention of top-tier festivals.
Did you make a virtue out of necessity? Or did you deliberately choose this kind of path?
I just tried to make films that made sense to me at the time. Each film was a result of intention and circumstance. Each film is a version of
what it could have been depending on who (if anybody) shows up, how hard people work, the weather, the gear, and everything else.
FREE IN DEED is different because it’s the first produced project I’ve worked on with a crew and actors. The challenge for me going
in was lack of experience; not knowing what an actual budget (even this small) could and could not afford. I had no perspective. Now
I know.
Who is the audience for ‘Free in Deed’?
Doing right by the subject occupied all of my attention. We tried to allow the film to be authentic with as much complexity and subtlety
as possible under the circumstances of making a ‘movie.’ My work has never satisfied any significant audience, so that hasn’t ever been a
factor in my filmmaking. It works like a feedback loop. Positive audience response is a form of validation. But if you don’t get that then
it just doesn’t factor in to the process of making the work. I feel completely out of sync with society and popular culture anyways.
I care about connecting with people for whom the experience should resonate but I just don’t know exactly where those people are.