To Rest in Peace: cast

Showing posts with label cast. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Canadian Premiere at Brantford

To Rest in Peace will have its Canadian premiere at the Brantford Film Festival!

There will be two screenings: Friday, November 4th at 7 PM, and Saturday, November 5th at 1PM. Check out the schedule for more details.

This is a particularly exciting festival for us. There were a lot of Canadians working on To Rest in Peace, including our lead, Michael Benyaer, our producer, Josh Clavir, and, of course, I lived most of my life in Toronto. I grew up there since I was eight years old, discovered my passion for filmmaking there, met my mentor David Stein, studied history at the University of Toronto. Much of who I am, as a person and a filmmaker, is intimately tied to my time in Toronto. So our Canadian premiere is one I have been looking forward to for a very long time.

Ironically, Canada has been the least receptive country for To Rest in Peace. We have played all over the world, in the United States, in Cannes, in Dubai, in Kuwait, and in the UK. But it has taken almost a year to finally play at a Canadian festival.

And this one promises to be the perfect beginning. Check out their line-up, which includes Sudden Death!, a musical comedy by fellow USC filmmaker, Adam Hall.

SoCal Best Student Short!

To Rest in Peace won best student short at the SoCal Independent Film Fest! Congrats to the cast & crew.

The picture above is of me and Mir Waiss Najibi at the screening. Mir played one of the dead men that Malek buries in To Rest in Peace. We were so grateful for his involvement, and for Ralph Lopez. They were both on set for several days, early in the morning, getting into dead man make-up, and always cheerful.

One of my fondest memories of set was a blooper that Mir and Ralph created. We were filming a close-up of the two dead bodies, and before I yelled 'cut,' the bodies came to life, looked around in a daze, and decided to leave. The whole crew had a good laugh.

Our festival run continues. More news to come.

Friday, September 16, 2011

SoCal Independent Film Festival

To Rest in Peace will return to Huntington Beach for the SoCal Independent Film Festival! The festival runs September 28th to October 2nd. Our screening is on Thursday, September 29th at 1:10PM.

I say 'return,' because we shot our last day of principle photograph on Huntington Beach. People often point to this scene as one they are sure was shot in Kuwait. The Towers of Kuwait appear in the background, as Malek is contemplating the water. But these were filmed separately by Ali Younis, and then composited by Michael Ashton. The scene itself was shot by Sean Conaty with our priniciple photography crew in Huntington Beach, California.

Incidentally, if you would like to see more of Kuwait, Ali Younis has some beautiful nature videos up on his YouTube channel. Check out Kuwait's Desert in Spring. And did you know that Kuwait has flamingos?

The beach scene is one of my personal favourites in To Rest in Peace. It is the moment when Malek, having struggled with his choice of whether or not to risk his life and bury the two dead men himself, has reached the end of the road. There is no where else to go, and he is forced to contemplate his decision in a communion with nature. Part of the inspiration was this sentiment by Lord Byron, from Childe Harold's Pilgrimmage:

   There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
     There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
     There is society, where none intrudes,
     By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
     I love not man the less, but Nature more,

From these our interviews, in which I steal

From all I may be, or have been before,

To mingle with the Universe, and feel

What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

Michael Benyaer gave a layered performance, underscored by Leah Curtis's music. This is one scene that stayed almost exactly the same throughout the editing process, from Zachary Dehm's first cut.

I look forward to revisiting Huntington Beach. It was the end of our production, but not of our festival run. More festival news is coming up soon, including our Canadian premiere. And we're off to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival tomorrow!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Charles Anteby

Charles Anteby's latest demo reel includes a scene from To Rest in Peace.

The scene was shot on our third day of production. During the screening in Kuwait, several people tried to guess which local hospital we filmed in. But this was actually filmed in Santa Clarita, California. Kudos to our production design team.

The third day of production was particularly difficult, because of a big technical setback we had in the morning. We were not able to get our first shot in until after lunch, and then only because of some major problem solving by camera department, grips and electrics, and producers. Having a professional cast with a good attitude helped us rally and rescue the scene. My biggest concern when the crew is working against the clock is: will the stress of the day affect the performances? But I was very happy from "action" to "cut."

Congrats to Charles on your continued success!

Monday, May 16, 2011

First Day in Cannes

This is a photo of Michael Benyaer (Malek), Fawaz, and myself our first night in Cannes. We look forward to the screening tomorrow morning at the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase.

The weather has been gorgeous here, and the food is amazing. The color of the water is incredible. I have never seen anything like it. It is my first time in France, and what a great introduction!

More updates to come. Possibly including pictures of me and Fawaz in tuxes.

P.S. Can anyone loan me a bow tie? : )

Thursday, March 17, 2011

River Jordan

Merik Tadros, who played Ali in To Rest in Peace, has his graphic novel featured at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo this weekend, March 18th to 20th.

River Jordan is inspired by a true story, set in Chicago, USA, and Amman, Jordan. Rami, a nine year old boy, struggles to overcome his father's tragic murder. He is guided by Nabil, an old family friend who turned blind from grief, before finishing a painting of the River Jordan. Nabil asks Rami to finish the painting, teaching him lessons from his family past that allow the boy to overcome his loss.

Merik weaves the layers of narrative beautifully. The plot, the characters, the visuals and the theme all integrate, giving River Jordan as much metaphor as it has drama. It's one of the best stories I've read, and I can't wait to see it as a film.

Good luck, Merik!

Monday, March 29, 2010

ADR

Sound design on To Rest in Peace is moving steadily forward. Today we recorded ADR, and next week we'll record foley.

For those of you outside the world of filmmaking, ADR is 'Automatic Dialogue Replacement'. I'm not sure where the 'automatic' part comes from, it's quite laborious. There were a couple of scenes where the production sound had distant construction noises, or the sounds of a car motor running. In order to clean up these sounds, and have greater control in the design, we re-record the dialogue for these scenes. Actors have to listen to themselves, wait for a beep, and then repeat their line in the same tone and rhythm.

We also added an unscripted line at the end of the film, to strengthen the climactic moment.

Pictured above is Michael Benyaer (Malek) at the microphone, with Chris Whetstone (the sound designer) at the control board. It was such a joy to see the cast again, and catch up. ADR is often a frustrating process, but with the quality of artists we had today, it was sheer pleasure.

In other news, we've set a screening date in May with a group of USC thesis films. Once all the details are confirmed, I will post the information up! The film will also screen in Toronto and Kuwait, before hitting the festival circuit in the fall.