Coachella Valley Premiere – One Time Screening
Filmmaker guests: Stephanie Argy, Alec Boehm, Cast & Crew
Each DFS member may bring one complimentary guest
Washington, DC, 1935: At the height of the Great Depression, Eddie Doyle (Donal Thoms-Cappello), an ace safecracker, is just doing what he does best: stealing. Now facing prison, Eddie finds he has another option. Enter Lt. F. Ellis Coburn (Lee Perkins), a cool-as-ice Navy man with a problem only Eddie can solve: the Japanese military has changed its encryption codes, with potentially devastating results for the U.S.
A prominent Japanese diplomat holds the key to his country's secrets in the form of a mysterious machine. As Eddie and Coburn work together to pull off the heist of a lifetime, they find more to the job than they bargained for as things get very personal. Full of crackling dialogue, eye-catching visuals and unpredictable twists, co-directors Stephanie Argy's and Alec Boehm's The Red Machine is a charming throwback to the great espionage capers of the 1930s.
Directed by Stephanie Argy & Alec Boehm, 2009, U.S.A., 84 mins.
"Intriguing…plot turns climazing in a caper-flick triple cross" – Dennis Harvey, Variety
"A brilliant period heist movie……4 1/2 Stars!" – Andrew Robertson, Eye For Film
"A throwback to the type of film Warner Bros. would have made with George Raft and John Garfield 70 years ago." – Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican
“Here’s a film with an elegant simplicity. Not a shot doesn’t do its work. It may remind you of a ’40s B crime movie, and I mean that as a compliment.” – RogerEbert.com
Festivals: Mill Valley Film Festival, Santa Fe Film Festival, Sedona International Film Festival, Durango Independent Film Festival, The Method Fest, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, Prescott Film Festival, Port Townsend Film Festival.
Awards: Best Independent Feature, Sedona Film Festival; Jury Commendation-Best Feature, Durango Independent Film Festival; Audience Award-Best Feature, Durango Independent Film Festival; Best Screenplay, The Method Fest (plus nominations for Best Ensemble Cast and for Lee Perkins' performance).
showing with GANDHI AT THE BAT (11 minutes)
For decades, historians have searched for evidence of Mahatma Gandhi’s top-secret trip to the United States in 1933. At President Roosevelt’s request, all contemporary accounts were suppressed and no records have ever been found – until film historians unearthed this never-before-seen newsreel footage of Gandhi’s legendary (and totally fictional) visit to Yankee Stadium.
Based on a short story by Chet Williamson that originally appeared in the New Yorker in 1983, Gandhi at the Bat is a mock newsreel account of Mohandas K. Gandhi's pinch-hit for the New York Yankees. The 11-minute movie includes over 75 effects shots, done by the directors themselves, which transform the actual shooting location (a minor league ballpark in Bakersfield, California) into a faithful recreation of Yankee Stadium as it was over seventy years ago.
Festivals: Mill Valley Film Festival, Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival, New Jersey Independent South Asian Cinefest, DC Independent Film Festival, SF Women’s Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Cinegear Short Film Showcase, Bollywood and Beyond (Stuttgart, Germany), Los Angeles Short Film Festival, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Cinema Rome Film Festival – Tad Arts Event, River to River, Florence Indian Film Festival, Asian Hot Shots, Berlin, Germany, BAMKids International Film Festival, Tiburon International Film Festival, Tongues on Fire (London, England), Sarasota Film Festival –Kidsfest, First Take Film Festival, Cape Fear Independent Film Festival, Delray Beach Film Festival, Canadian Sport Film Festival, Connecticut Film Festival, Frozen Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Hermosa Shorts Film Festival, Nevada City Film Festival, Moondance Film Festival, Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Prescott Film Festival & Series, Santa Fe Film Festival, Durango Film Festival, Traverse City Film Festival, Port Townsend Film Festival.
Awards: BAFTA Honorable Mention, Mill Valley Film Festival; Eastman Kodak Award, Best Narrative Short, IAAC Film Festival; Special Recognition: Use of Technology, DC Independent Film Festival; Best Independent Short, Cinegear Short Film Showcase; Best Comedy, HollyShorts Film Festival; Audience Choice Award, Hermosa Shorts Film Festival; Award for Filmmaking Excellence, Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival.
