There’s an alive indie American-Iranian cinema movement in the US, and if the Keshavarz name rings a bell it’s because the indie film fest circuit is home to siblings Maryam and Hossein. His sister, Maryam broke out in Park City with 2011 Sundance Audience Award Winner Circumstance, and before she made her mark, it was her brother who received the spotlight with 2011’s Dog Sweat, the “Someone to Watch” Film Independent Spirit Award nominated film that received its premiere at 2010’s LAFF. Shot in New York City, his sophomore film, Pebble of Love in the Shoe of My Life was actually shot in the summer of 2013, and has been on a slow, but steady pace towards a ’15 premiere. Benefitting from some Kickstarter coin, Tribeca All Access awards funds, this was recently invited to the US in Progress Champs-Élysées Film Festival 2014 edition with unobtrusive title of Eugenia and John.
Gist: Soon to graduate from Dartmouth, the idealistic John (Wesley Tunison) visits his girlfriend Eugenia (Venecia Troncoso) while on interviews for jobs in New York. As he begins to fear that a life of scientific research may become an intellectual straightjacket, Eugenia, “undocumented and unafraid,” worries that her political activism on behalf of immigration reform will force her to give up her dream of medical school and even face deportation proceedings.
Production Co./Producers: Indion Entertainment Group’s Chad Burris (Mosquita y Mari), Amy Durning (3 Backyards), Maryam Azadi.
Prediction: World Dramatic Competition. Tribeca has an eye out for this one as well.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. TBD (domestic). TBD (international)
Note: Corrections made to original piece.
[related]2015 Sundance Film Festival Predictions[/related]