Several of my films are making their world premiere at the prestigious Action on Film (AOF) Festival, which is going on until Sunday, September 27th in scenic Monrovia at the Krikorian Theatres. These films are Strangers In A Book, Seeking Valentina, and Natural Born Filmmakers.
This festival was created by Del Weston, who is also a filmmaker, so he really supports indie filmmakers in our community. And I really feel the sense of community at this festival. I ran into supportive friends from the film festival world and the media like King Bassey, Founder of the Los Angeles Nollywood Film Awards, LA Talk Radio Host Cameron Datzker and journalist and actor Harrison Held.
Working on Strangers In a Book was an interesting experience and I learned so much as I also wore a producer hat on this one in addition to playing the lead role. This film is nominated for Best Guerilla short film at AOF. It was shot entirely in black and white. And has a great soundtrack which enlisted bands from the hip and progressive Italians Do it Better label, such as Chromatics, Desire, and Johnny Jewel which really add to the style of this bold, psychological thriller. Keeping fingers and toes crossed!
I had a great time working on Seeking Valentina. Kristin and Armin had a crazy shooting schedule, but thankfully for me, my scene was shot in North Hollywood. This film is about an Iranian-American writer (Ali Bavarian), in the pangs of grief, who takes in a mysterious tenant (Kristin West). When she mysteriously disappears, is she a ghost, a hallucination, a dream or a runaway? The subject matter and open-ended ending left a lot of audience members in suspense about who Valentina really was and that was what Nasseri was trying to convey with the film. The film also stars Srinivasa Kapavarapu of Outsourced, Mehlad Gibson, and yours truly of course.
I’m really excited that Natural Born Filmmakers is nominated for a Best Comedy Feature award at AOF. I had a blast working on Natural Born Filmmakers with an ensemble cast of fine folks like my dear friends Gregory Blair and Dawna Lee Heising, which are very talented. I can’t wait to work with them on Garden Party Massacre!
More info about this wonderful festival at http://www.aoffest.com/ and more info about the films at https://www.facebook.com/StrangersInABook, http://www.seekingvalentina.com/, and https://www.facebook.com/naturalbornfilmmakers
