Indie film ‘Defying Gravity’ at the Other Venice Film Festival this weekend
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on October 10, 2008 under Other Venice Film Festival | 
Award-winning indie film ‘Defying Gravity‘ will screen at the Other Venice Film Festival at the Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Avenue, at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday October 12. Accepted to nine film festivals and winner of four awards including Best Narrative Feature, the movie will be released worldwide by Indie-Pictures in February 2009. Several colorful scenes were shot on Venice Beach.
‘Defying Gravity’ is a quirky comedy about a runaway girl who lives in a Jewish cemetery. She is befriended by the cemetery caretaker (an illegal alien), a transvestite waitress (played by Willam Belli), and a homeless young man haunted by mathematical and religious delusions. The movie has previously screened at the Digital Video & High Def Festival in Beverly Hills (where it won Best Story/Writing), the Riverside International Film Festival, the Fallbrook Film Festival (Director’s Choice Award), the AOF (Action on Film) International Film Festival (Best LGBT Project) in Pasadena, the Feel Good Film Festival in Hollywood, and the Wildwood By the Sea Film Festival (Best Narrative Feature) in NJ.
Award-winning indie film ‘Defying Gravity’ will screen at the Other Venice Film Festival at the Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Avenue, at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday October 12. Accepted to nine film festivals and winner of four awards including Best Narrative Feature, the movie will be released worldwide by Indie-Pictures in February 2009. Several colorful scenes were shot on Venice Beach.
‘Defying Gravity’ is a quirky comedy about a runaway girl who lives in a Jewish cemetery. She is befriended by the cemetery caretaker (an illegal alien), a transvestite waitress (played by Willam Belli), and a homeless young man haunted by mathematical and religious delusions. The movie has previously screened at the Digital Video & High Def Festival in Beverly Hills (where it won Best Story/Writing), the Riverside International Film Festival, the Fallbrook Film Festival (Director’s Choice Award), the AOF (Action on Film) International Film Festival (Best LGBT Project) in Pasadena, the Feel Good Film Festival in Hollywood, and the Wildwood By the Sea Film Festival (Best Narrative Feature) in NJ.
Defying Gravity features a score by Eric Kufs and includes several songs by his L.A.-based folk-rock group Common Rotation.
The movie has been described as “… a funny, poignant and always interesting little film, built on well-designed characters and a fine story.” (Dan Bennett, North County Times Newspaper). An article about the making of ‘Defying Gravity’ is featured in the ‘Reel Life Adventures’ section of the March/April issue of Indie Slate magazine: ‘Defying the Odds: How a Middle-Aged Math Teacher Became an Indie Producer.’
Billing itself as “the only solar powered film festival on the planet”, the Other Venice Film Festival kicked off on Thursday Oct. 9 and runs all weekend through Oct.12. As both a community and an international event, the OVFF brings together emerging artists from film, music and the fine arts. The program includes full length features, documentaries, shorts, experimental work, animation, and a series of films “by kids for kids”. Filmmakers will be treated to parties, opening and closing night parties, and an opportunity to win an Abbot award. The Abbot Awards are given to filmmakers who exemplify maverick filmmaking, by creating stunning and poignant cinema. These films, often hilarious or tragically absurd, are made without the benefits of large budgets and technological wizardry.
