Warner Independent Pictures have picked up a “hate it or love it” type of title – perhaps the most controverisal film at Toronto – and one of my faves so far. The indie co. paid just a little bit over a million along with Netflix's Red Envelope, paid $1.2 million for Nothing Is Private.
The R-rated title is Alan Ball's directing debut offers a nasty Aaron Eckhart (think retro In the Company of Men type of meaness) and gives uneasy depictions of rape and pedophilia. Many elements that made American Beauty so provocative and visually imaginative are found in this picture as well.
Based on the Alicia Erian's novel Towelhead, this is set during the Gulf War, and is a coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old Arab-American girl who must navigate a sexual obsession with a bigoted Army reservist under the oppressive eye of her Lebanese father. The film tells the story of Jasira, who struggles with identity and sexual issues as the daughter of a Lebanese-American father and an American mother in Texas during the Gulf War.
