woo hoo! we’ve just found out the PRAXIS is an Official Selection to this Year’s Washington DC Independent Film Festival. check out their site: www.dciff.org
Here’s the Press Release too:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : 18TH FEBRUARY 2008
LOCAL FILMMAKER ALEX PACHECO’S DEBUT FEATURE ‘PRAXIS’ TO PREMIERE AT THE WASHINGTON DC INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, SATURDAY MARCH 8, 2008 @ 9:30PM.
(GWU JACK MORTON AUDITORIUM, 805 21st Street NW,Corner of 21st and H St NW.)
COULD ‘PRAXIS’ BE THE MOST IMPORTANT ‘INDIE’ FILM MADE IN DC?
When most Washingtonians are asked about filmmakers from DC, not a whole lot of names come to mind: Jeff Krulik of HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT fame, Eduardo Sanchez of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. It’s not a very long list. The majority of local filmsare either documentaries, shorts, or student work.
This is where the debut feature film ‘PRAXIS’ from DC Filmmaker, Alex Pacheco, stands out. It was shot on film, not video. It’s decisive, and difficult to categorize: Experimental, Art House, Dramatic, Narrative, Gay/Straight, Surreal, Fantastic, Sci-Fi, Existential. It’s not the typical ‘indie’ film, with snappy dialogue or a story centered around people with animal suits. In fact, PRAXIS ismore in tune with the work of Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, and Pacheco’s previous films have been compared to the likes of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and Luis
Buñuel. “I’m more interested in the subtle,unspoken connections, the visual experience – that a film can invite you in to make your own assumptions.” Pacheco declares. PRAXIS is a story that is told through the visuals and cinematography, versus dialogue.
Produced completely outside of Hollywood by a small, dedicated group of volunteers and talented local crew, the film features powerful acting from Tom Macy, (Brian) a graduate of the School for Film and Television in NYC, and Andrew Roth (Joe), an accomplished method actor also from New York. PRAXIS also features an innovatory music score from DC music virtuoso Bob Massey, of The Gena Rowlands Band, Nitrate Hymnal, and Telograph Melts fames.
PRAXIS is an incredibly ambitious film – A young writer named Brian suffers a mental breakdown, and is forced to come to terms with his own identity and the meaning of the universe. Pacheco says,”It basically can be summed up to one line,’If you could be anywhere, where would you be?’ This is what Brian is questioning, and the possibilities are endless.”
Matt Borlik from THE WASHINGTON CITY PAPER describes PRAXIS as:
“…A bold first step into the foray of feature filmmaking.” (June 8th,2007)
In January of 2008, PRAXIS was chosen as an Official Selection of the CINEQUEST FILM FESTIVAL, a festival known for showcasing daring and edgy experimental work. PRAXIS is also slated to screen at NEW FILMMAKERS/ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES in New York later this spring. Anthology Film Archives was started by one of the grandmasters of American indie/experimental film, JONAS MEKAS, which Pacheco finds,”…a true honor.”
This year marks the Tenth Anniversary of the DC Independent Film Festival, and Pacheco’s previous short UNFORTUNATE MAN screened at the 2002 DCIFF. In June 1999, UNFORTUNATE MAN had an unprecedented DC premiere at the Hirshhorn Museum: roughly 700 people showed up to a theatre that could only hold 250.
PRAXIS is proof that an incredibly beautiful feature film can be produced within the nation’s capital, regardless of physical location, albeit New York, L.A., Park City, or even Adams Morgan.
