[***NOTICE: The following entry contains key plot details, review information and production details from the upcoming film 'CIAO'. If you do not wish to have an advance notice, please skip this entry. Thank you.***]
‘Ciao’ is a film about death, loss, pain and mourning. ‘Ciao’ is also a film about discovery, hope and the capacity of the human spirit. It is at once haunting and heartbreaking, profound and illuminating.
If that seems in the least bit contradictory, it’s part of what makes the film such a genuinely beautiful constructed ode to loss. I had the immense privilege to watch an advance screener of the Regent Releasing film last night. Writers Yen Tan (also the Director) and Alessandro Calzo (also co-star) have written one of the most beautiful films about loss that I have ever seen.
Mr. Alessandro Calza
From the opening minutes which are framed by repeated shots of e-mail compositions and a man’s day-to-day routine, the sense of quiet and powerful discovery is set in motion. Tan’s choice to use his actor’s silence as part of the dialog is a brilliant choice. We are forced to watch more closely and keenly. The two leads are amazing beautiful–and talented–men. In the faces of Jeff (Adam Neal Smith) and Andrea (Alessandro Calza), the director has two expressive canvases–and I was riveted by every flick of an eye, strained neck muscle and delicate nuance of two men who come to know one another in the most difficult of circumstances.
Mr. Adam Neal Smith
The story is beautifully told, superbly acted and brilliantly filmed. There are some gloriously beautiful framing shots in this film. A special mention must be made of the work of Director of Photography Michael Victor Roy’s work–it’s truly sublime. The words of Tan and Calza are sparse, yet powerful in resonance. The acting of Smith and Calza is first-rate. I could not give a bigger recommendation to see this film as soon as you can.
‘Ciao’ will open on a staggered schedule beginning December 5, 2008 in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine. It will roll out through January and beyond. You’ll probably have to a bit of work to find, but do NOT miss this one. Currently the film is scheduled to play:
December 5th–New York City, Landmark Sunshine
December 12th–San Francisco, Landmark Lumiere
December 19th–Boston, Landmark One Kendall Square
December 19th–Denver, Starz Film Center
December 26th–Los Angeles, Laemmle’s Sunset 5
January 2nd–Ft. Lauderdale, Sunrise Gateway
January 9th–San Diego, Landmark Hillcrest
January 16th–Portland, Living Room Theaters
January 30th–Philadelphia, Landmark Ritz at the Bourse
February 13th–Atlanta, Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
‘CIAO’ beautifully explores the difficult path to accepting loss amidst the hope of new beginnings. This somber and touching modern love story focuses on the incidental friendship between two strangers living in two different parts of the world. Their connection is sparked by the unexpected loss of a mutual friend, Mark. When Jeff (Adam Neal Smith) is left in charge of handling Mark’s possessions and tying up loose ends he stumbles upon one of Mark’s email conversations with Mark’s online Italian romance, Andrea (Allesandro Calza, who also co-wrote the screenplay) and must tell him the bad news. With a trip already booked, Andrea decides to come and learn more about his recently departed friend. What begins as a tragedy that links two strangers from different ends of the world becomes a deeply realized friendship that may change their lives forever.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
In May of 2003 I received an email from Alessandro, a web designer in Genoa, Italy. He wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed my first feature film ‘Happy Birthday.’ This sparked off a series of long, platonic correspondence that continues to this day. It all seemed rather “84 Charing Cross Road;” the Helene Haniff true-life novel that was then adapted into a film starring Anne Bancroft as the book-loving writer in New York City whose letters with a bookseller in London, played by Anthony Hopkins, spanned over two decades. Like Ms Haniff and Frank Doel (albeit cruder and gayer), the emails between Alessandro and I seemed endless; conversations went on and on about everything and nothing. We were like two friends chatting non-stop from dusk till dawn, occasionally sharing a favorite song via MP3 attachment.
It wasn’t long before the idea struck me: a simple story about two people who eventually meet after corresponding with each other over a period of time. There’s an Italian (Andrea) and an American (Mark). They write each other. They meet. They have witty conversations over candlelight dinners. A romantic comedy ensues? Something about this set-up bugged me: it was too superficial, too lighthearted, too gag-inducing for my taste. But what if something happened to the American prior to their meeting? Like he died in a tragic car accident? Yes! Exit Mark, enter Jeff. Jeff was good friends with Mark and has no idea that Andrea, the foreigner, is coming to visit. We now have intrigue in the premise.
I bounced the initial draft off Alessandro. After all, I had based Andrea on him and I wanted to avoid the Oliver Martinez cliché: the American’s eroticized idea of the passionate European with an accent who can kiss like there’s no tomorrow. Which, in retrospect, was exactly the kind of Italian I presented in the first draft. As I got to know Alessandro better on a more personal level and spoke to him on the phone several times, I gradually refined the character, which consequentially made me define the gist of the story even more. I came to realize that the film is about grief. It is about the birth of a relationship upon the death of another.
Two years and ten drafts later, ‘Ciao’ has been shaped into an emotionally astute screenplay about the incidental friendship between two strangers living in two different parts of the world. Their connection is linked by the unexpected loss of a mutual friend. One has been with him for many years; the other has never even met him, but may have gotten to know him on a more intimate level through the emails exchanged. How would these two people behave when they met? What would they say to each other? In which ways do they mourn?
I’ve been meaning to keep a daily journal through production but alas, physical and mental exhaustion have prevented me from partaking in the ritual. There was a tad of laziness involved, also, but hey, a man can only work so hard. Returning to the day job after the shoot was difficult and surreal. Difficult because life doesn’t feel the same anymore. Surreal because everything that happened before feels like a distant dream.
We wrapped on a Friday morning, shooting a pivotal love scene between Jeff and Andrea that turned out marvelously. I won’t go into details about what took place but I was quite enamored and entranced by what I witnessed. The moment I recalled vividly occurred right after we rolled on the first take and before I yelled “Action!” I had requested that we play a two minute excerpt from Aphex Twin’s “Nanou 2”, with the idea of setting a tone for the actors. Adam had his eyes closed; Alessandro was watching him. At one point, Alessandro reached over to fix a crease in Adam’s tank top. It was an unexpectedly maternal gesture that accentuated what followed. I was profoundly moved.
Over the weekend, I went back to unit 7, the condo we rented to shoot a majority of the film in, for some cleaning and tidying before we turned the keys back to the landlord. Alessandro assisted me later to take out bags of trash that had accumulated over the past three weeks. We sat in the living room after and talked. Everything we said boiled down to “this is sad”. It was sad. Production was over. People had gone back home. All there was left was emptiness.
One of the unexpected stylistic elements that I discovered in the course of filming was my fascination with negative space. It was very Ozuesque: a sense of not wanting to leave the environment we were in. I did this in numerous scenes; requesting the actors delay their action in entering the frame at the beginning of the shot or not cutting the end of it until the actors have cleared the frame for several seconds after. None of this really caught up to me emotionally until I returned to unit 7 again. That was when it all clicked. The theme of the film became crystal clear: it was about our yearning to stay. To remain. To never part.
As much as I thought I was gonna collapse in the strenuous midst of production, I didn’t really want this whole experience to end. Something about the idea of moving on really disturbs me now. One morning in week two, I woke up with a pillow held tightly in my arms. I believe I cried in my sleep the night before. I still don’t know what I was holding on to.
CAST:
ADAM NEAL SMITH
Focusing primarily on sports through his teenage years, Adam’s interest in film and the craft of acting did not develop until adulthood. As a history major at the University of North Texas, Adam took an introductory acting class to meet the requirement for a fine arts credit. He was hooked immediately. Within a year after graduation from UNT, Adam relocated to Los Angeles and formed a band, The Ethels. He then joined The 68 Cent Crew Theater Company, where he performed as Billy D. during a six-month run of Samuel Shem’s Bill W. and Dr. Bob and co-wrote the play, “On the Brink.” Additionally, Adam signed on to take the role of Homer Morris in the traveling children’s show “The Morris Brothers.” The show sparked an interest in improvisation, which he nurtured by enrolling at Los Angeles’ Second City conservatory. Meanwhile, he and his friend Gordon Bash composed the score for Eric Wolfson’s feature film, “Callback.”
ALESSANDRO CALZA
Alessandro is a prolific new media designer based in Genoa, Italy. He has produced websites and print materials for Nokia, KLM, Bausch & Lomb, Motorola, and Lionsgate Films. Prior to that, his interest in costume design led him to an acting audition at Teatro Stabile, where he was chosen as one of the twenty finalists to be considered for admission at the distinguished acting school.
CHARLES W. BLAUM
Charles was discovered by Yen in a newspaper article about the Dallas Diablos, a gay rugby league he co-founded. He remains an active member of the organization and is also an avid karaoke singer.
ETHEL LUNG
Ethel had a lead role in Yen’s award-winning “Happy Birthday.” She has since been working in Los Angeles and is a member of the 68 Cent Crew Theater Company. Ethel has also appeared in a series of international commercials for Nokia and Allianz Insurance.
FILM MAKERS:
YEN TAN (CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR)
Born and raised in Malaysia, Yen’s first short film, “Love Stories” had a successful run at North American film festivals and was voted one of the six “Best of Fest” selections at the Dallas Video Festival. His debut feature, “Happy Birthday”, screened at numerous film festivals worldwide. The film also won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, and Yen was subsequently awarded the New Directors Showcase at the Portland GLBT Film Festival. Happy Birthday was acquired by TLA Releasing. Yen contributed a segment to the acclaimed omnibus film “Deadroom,” which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival, then played the Cleveland International Film Festival and the Philadelphia Film Festival. The directorial joint venture was given a Director’s Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Texas Film Festival. Concurrently, Yen was featured as one of the “20 Great Dallasites” in the 20th anniversary edition of the Dallas Voice. He has earned praises from esteemed author and critic Michael Bronski, who considered “Happy Birthday” “a work of intelligence and deep emotional sensibility.” “Trick” and “Queer as Folk” screenwriter Jason Schafer also commended Yen for having “a recognizable voice and a developed style this early in his career.” In addition to “Ciao,” Yen also wrote the Sundance Screenwriting Lab semi-finalist, “Pit Stop.”
JIM McMAHON (PRODUCER)
Jim met Yen while working on the set of the feature drama “Wedded Bliss?” where he worked as a Gaffer and Yen was an Assistant Director. Since then, they have built a close friendship and professional bond. Intensely focused, Jim has produced two feature films in the past three years while building strong relationships in all aspects of production, distribution, and exhibition. Currently working as a Post-Production Producer for a successful ad agency in Los Angeles, he frequently works on commercial projects with a total production budget of $500,000-$1,000,000. His directorial debut, a thriller entitled “Bloodshed,” premiered at the Dead by Dawn Film Festival in Scotland and subsequently gained immediate sales representation through Strategic Film Partners and Spotlight Pictures. It has done quite well at the European Film Market and is expected to gross 500% over the initial production budget. Also an accomplished Director of Photography, Jim has shot three feature films: “Deadroom” (which he also Executive Produced), “Mere Acquaintance”, and “Prison-A-Go-Go!”
JAMES M. JOHNSTON (CO-PRODUCER)
James has been making independent films for about eight years, primarily as a writer, producer, and director. His works include “Mere Acquaintance,” “Deadroom,” “GDMF,” and his latest, “Merrily, Merrily.” He did not attend film school and took his first fateful step towards filmmaking by volunteering to work on an ultra low-budget film. From there, he kept working on films in various roles and this is how he collected a great group of friends and collaborators that he works with on a regular basis. When not working on films, he is Executive Chef for his wife Amy McNutt’s award-winning vegan restaurant, Spiral Diner & Bakery.
MICHAEL VICTOR ROY (DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)
Michael graduated from the USC School of Cinema and Television Production and has been working as both a Gaffer and a Chief Lighting Technician of independent film productions. With over twenty feature credits, including Adrienne Shelly’s “Waitress” and “An American Crime” with Catherine Keener, Michael has begun to concentrate his efforts on cinematography. In addition to “Ciao,” his current projects include “Mortals,” an intimate drama based on the writings of celebrated author Tobias Wolfe, and “Waste Land,” a feature length documentary film addressing the ramifications of a “throwaway” society.
CLARE FLOYD DEVRIES (PRODUCTION DESIGNER)
Winner of several Column Awards for her theater set designs; Clare was honored with the Dallas Theater League’s Leon Rabin Award for Watertower Theatre’s acclaimed “Sweeney Todd.” Since then, she’s been nominated for four shows: “Enchanted April,” “It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues,” “The Crucible,” and “Urinetown: the Musical;” where she won for “Enchanted” and “Urinetown.” The Dallas Morning News singled her out for an Arts Day profile, calling her “arguably Dallas’ best set designer.” More recently, she was interviewed as part of the National Public Radio series: “American Stages: Flexible Theater Design and Audience Intimacy.”
DAVID LOWERY (CO-PRODUCER/EDITOR)
A TFPF recipient for his short film “The Outlaw Son” and upcoming feature, “St. Nick,” David is primarily a writer and director who is equally passionate about film editing. He has edited James M. Johnston’s “Mere Acquaintance” and “Deadroom,” where he worked closely with Yen. David was also a finalist for the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus.
SAMUEL CASAS (SOUND DESIGNER)
Samuel is a professional sound mixer at Lime Studios in Santa Monica. He has worked on commercials for Volkswagen, American Express, Ford, and USA Networks.
STEPHAN ALTMAN (COMPOSER)
Stephan is lead composer and creative director at Venice Beach, CA-based Mophonics, a boutique music production house creating original music for brands, artists, and film. His first feature film score was for Alejandro Gomez Moneverde’s “Bella,” winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. He has also composed music for many national and international TV campaign spots for Apple, Visa, Verizon Wireless, Adidas, and Pepsi.
GLEN WALSH (MUSIC SUPERVISOR)
During his volunteer tenure at KCRW, Glen co-promoted a successful and long-running progressive dance music night in Los Angeles’ Westside. As a music supervisor with an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary music, he has worked on several commercials for Apple, Visa, Adidas, and Nike. Born and raised in the south side of Santa Monica (otherwise known as Dogtown), Glen is also a seasoned surfer fond of executing complex longboard tricks through shark-infested waters.
=============
‘CIAO” Running Time: 87 minutes, in color, 35mm aspect ratio 1.85, U.S. theatrical exhibition formats: HDCam, Digital Betacam, aspect ratio 1.78 (16×9), in English, Rated R for language including sexual references
