Self-identity is a bitch
Tribes
Nino Aldi’s role-reversal comedy Tribes, starring DeStorm Power (Punk’d), Adam Waheed (Pitch Please) and Daytime Emmy-winning producer/actor Jake Hunter (Class Act) will World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival – SBIFF. The film is produced by the three lead actors in collaboration with multidisciplinary filmmaker Jeion Green and award-winning Canadian producer Patricia Chica, from a screenplay by Andy Marlatt. The executive producers are Jordan Taylor Wright of Taylor Cut Films and Will Meldman ofDouble Down Pictures.
Tribes tells the story of an African American, an Arab-American and a white guy who try to rob a subway wagon. Because none of them wants to rob people of their own race, it sets them off to a series of arguments over self-identity. This leads the would-be bandits to continually divide the passengers into various ethnic, cultural and economic subgroups in an effort to find a class of people that none of them identify with – a group they can feel good about robbing. When the train arrives at the next station, no one expects that the situation would be reversed. Self-identity is truly a bitch.
In this powerful and thought-provoking dark satire, the themes of identity and discrimination unfold during a train ride between two stations.
“Tribes deals with a pertinent issue in our society about separatism and how different we all feel we are from one another.” says director Nino Aldi.
In under 10 minutes, a mundane subway robbery becomes the setting of a humorous choreography of segregation, where the questions of morality and choice are challenged by the muggers themselves. By using irony and social commentary, this cautionary short aims to trigger a much-needed conversation about diversity, inclusion and the sense of belonging in today’s society.
“I want to tell this story to show that, in essence, we’re all part of the same tribe,” adds director Nino Aldi.
Tribes’ world premiere screening at the Oscar-qualifying competition for shorts will be followed by a Q&A with director Nino Aldi, the cast and crew. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will happen in Santa Barbara, CA from January 15th to the 25th, 2020.