2008 Fall/Holiday Preview: #15. Ballast

Date:

Ballast

#15. Ballast

Director/Writer:
Lance Hammer
Producers: Nina Parikh and Hammer
Distributor: DIY route.

The Gist: The opening images of Ballast present a young boy drifting freely in a vast Mississippi Delta flatscape and a middle-aged man immobilized by grief in the darkness of a small rural home. If, among other possibilities, the first can be regarded as an image of hope for “what can be”, and the second an image of regret for “what has become”, it is the emotional expanse between these poles that successive images will seek to reconcile.

Fact: Hammer has done digital design and computer graphic work for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

See It: You’ve got to respect someone who decides not to leave the fate of his film in anyone’s hands and take on the task of distributing it on his own terms.

Release Date/Status?: October 1st release at the Film Forum. Hammer will book the film for other cities. 

 
Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society) and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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