Last summer, my friend was working on a Kickstarter campaign for a really interesting film called OUT OF MY HAND. They had filmed the first part of it in the African country of Liberia, and they wanted to shoot the rest of it in New York City. I met with the film’s Kickstarter team, and gave them some advice. The campaign succeeded – to the tune of over $40,000. I met with the director and producer after the campaign to see if they needed crew help – and they did. I ended up coming onto the film as an Associate Producer, and we filmed the rest of it this past July.
The shoot wasn’t easy – the summer heat beat down on us all the way through, and some days required we shoot in multiple locations. But the stuff we were getting was REALLY, REALLY GOOD. And the script was dynamite. I figured the hard work would be worth it.
Man, I had no idea. There was an incredible announcement about OUT OF MY HAND today – it’s going to world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival next month! This is one of the most prestigious festivals in the world; it’s incredibly hard to get in. They announced the film’s inclusion on the festival’s Web site.
Here’s what the IMDB page for the movie says about the film:
“Out of My Hand is about a struggling Liberian rubber plantation worker risks everything to discover a new life as a cab driver in New York City. The film is a modern twist on a classic immigrant story, shot in Liberia and in New York, making use of rarely-seen locations in tandem with both non-actors and professional talent, espoused a naturalistic approach to better capture the lives of common plantation workers in Liberia, while simultaneously making use of a distinctively contemporary visual style. Out of My Hand is only the second foreign production narrative feature film ever shot in Liberia and the first to be made in association with Liberia Movie Union, an affiliate of Liberian government.”
I’m so excited to be a part of this movie, and that it’s going to be playing at such a prestigious festival. The filmmakers are so talented, the story is truly universal, and the scope of it is so wonderfully large for a microbudget indie film. Here’s one more photo from the film. I can’t wait for it to play here in the US. 🙂
Marty Lang 