Concrete River

 

Form: Live Action Narrative (short Film)

 

Genre: Drama | Urban

 

Duration: 8min 30sec

 

Format: HD (Sony F3)

 

Logline:

A dispirited young musician struggles between fulfilling his dreams of playing in a band, and carrying out the criminal activities set out for him by his oppressive older brother.

 

 

Director's Statement:

‘Concrete River’ is a story derived from a longer, feature length screenplay that I wrote last year entitled, ‘Alien Kulture’. I thought it would be interesting to take the essence and heart of that story, and just concentrate on the central conflict between the two main characters… the two brothers… and their relationship.

 

The themes relating to “What it means to be a brother” and “How can you change your life?” “The price of doing what you have to do”, “The business becoming an adult, how a man becomes a man...” All these things resonate with me on a personal level, and in some way and I guess I was interested to explore these things in this story.

 

Jalen is a young man at odds with himself, his nimble fingers employed for contradictorily aggressive and artistic purposes. I wanted to play with the contrast between light and dark, moral and immoral, hope and resignation… and capture a man at crossroads, a man in a state of confusion.

 

There are clear changes and dramatic turns that the characters experience, but ultimately, ‘Concrete River’ is a slice of life, a vignette of sorts, and that’s the type of film I set out to try and make.

 

I'd like to pay a massive thanks to all the collaborators, cast, crew, teachers and fellow students at Columbia University School of the Arts, for helping me make this film and I hope you all enjoy it.

 

Thanks!