Photo Credit: Alex Grigoras
This October, the visually stunning LFS graduation film directed by Joshua Benson, ZAIRE, will be taken to the Austin Film Festival.
The rest of the crew boasts a large array of LFS students past and present including George Kellock (Writer), Erin Phipps (Producer), Alex Grigoras (Director of Photography), Rahdy Elwan (Production Designer) and Gabriel Serrano Denis (Editor).
In ZAIRE, two scientists operate a base on a remote planet with the goal of jump-starting an ecosystem. Success remains frustratingly out of reach and their claustrophobic existence requires constant exertion to simply stay alive. Zaire is desperate to succeed, but has to face the looming prospect of failure. At breaking point, he finds a moment of solace in the scale and beauty of the wider universe.
During an interview with Ben Corbett, Director Joshua Benson has these words to say:
How do you feel about getting accepted into the AFF?
"From top to bottom, the people that worked on the film - [nearly] all of whom are LFS folks – put in a lot of long hours and hard work, so having a proper audience get to see the result of their effort will be the best part for me, personally."
Will you be attending the festival?
"I'll be headed to the festival with the lead actor, Jeff Worden. We're fixing to have ourselves some fun down there in Texas and people have only had good things to say about the fest and the city of Austin itself. There are a lot of good events lined up and hopefully we can drum up some support and get people to roll out to our screenings."
What are your plans after the AFF?
"We're fortunate to screen the film for the first time at a really great festival and if things go our way, we can kick on from here and take it on the road. Ultimately, it would be great to screen under the watch of the old Union Jack at some point and bring the film back home to London where the project started."
There will be two screenings of ZAIRE, attended by Joshua Benson and other members of the cast and crew. The world premiere will be at 7pm on Friday October 14th at the Rollins Theatre, followed by a second screening at 6pm on Monday 17th October at Galaxy Highland 9.
For more information, follow ZAIRE on Facebook and Twitter
ABOUT THE AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
The Austin Film Festival, taking place this year from October 13th-20th, has aimed to further the art and craft of filmmaking by inspiring and championing the work of screenwriters, filmmakers and all artists who use the language of film and television to tell a story since 1993.
In addition to an 8 day film festival and a 4 day conference, they offer year round events, a Young Filmmaker’s program, a TV show, Radio show, Podcast and more.