Randolph native Tze Chun, director of the Independent Film Festival of Boston's grand jury prize winner "Children of Invention," will unveil his locally shot flick at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge beginning Friday, Feb. 26 until Thursday, March 4.In "Children of Invention," two young children living outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother (played by Cindy Cheung from "Lady in the Water") gets embroiled in a pyramid scheme and disappears.
The film is also loosely based on Chun’s own childhood in Boston’s suburbs. “When I was little, my sister and I followed my mother to countless pyramid seminars," says Chun. "The film is a personal story about the world I grew up in--a subculture of immigrant and working class Americans trying to get-rich-quick in order to get themselves out of a financial hole. I didn't foresee the current financial crisis. But with the economy the way it is now, it seems like everyone's living through some version of what the family in the film goes through.”
The Brooklyn-based director, who shot the eviction scene from "Children of Invention" at his childhood home in Randolph and includes several Boston-area exteriors in the film including Downtown Crossing and the Red Line, tells Loaded Gun Boston that he hopes his film will inspire up-and-coming filmmakers to shoot locally.
"Boston is a very cinematic city, and it's a shame that more films don't shoot there," he says.
Chun continues, "We hope that with the success of this film, more homegrown filmmakers will stay in Boston to make their features, and more filmmakers from other parts of the country will consider setting their stories here."
The director chats about shooting at his childhood home, his experience filming in Boston and gives advice to up-and-coming filmmakers looking to break into the business.
Q: You shot the eviction scene from 'Children of Invention' at your childhood home in Randolph. Was it difficult on an emotional level to shoot there?
CHUN: I think I've probably shot about 10 projects around my childhood home. As an indie filmmaker, you kind of need to shoot where you have access to. And my mom still lives there. I shot a bunch of short films in my home when I was in high school, and so my mom's used to have extension cords running all over the place.
Q: Several Boston locales, including the Red Line and Downtown Crossing, are featured in exterior shots. How was the experience and any plans to film in Boston in the future?
CHUN: I would love to shoot in Boston again. The film commission was very generous and helpful.
Q: As a Boston-area native who has successfully launched a film career. Any advice to young up-and-coming filmmakers?
CHUN: Make as many short films as you can before you make your feature. It helps to log a lot of time behind the camera before your career is really depending on it.
Q: There's been a lot of film action--including several big-budget flicks that shot here last year like Tom Cruise's Knight & Day" and others like Ben Affleck's 'The Town' and 'The Company Men'--in Massachusetts. Think it's a good thing? Or, does all of the celeb-driven attention take the focus off of locally shot indie films?
CHUN: I think it's great for productions of all scales to be shooting in Boston, be they tiny micro-budget features or huge studio films. It all feeds into a film industry and a film culture. It's a shame that BF/VF is no longer around, since it was such a great gathering point for local filmmakers. I think right now one of the most exciting things happening in Boston is the Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFB) which gives audiences access to the newest indie films on the festival circuit. It was definitely one of the most pleasurable experiences we had on the festival circuit.
Q: Anything else?
CHUN: We're very excited to do our Boston hometown screening. Hope people will come out and support locally shot films!
Both Chun and producer Mynette Louie will be in attendance at the evening screenings on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27.
0 comments:
Post a Comment