FAILURE! Alex Kahuam Directs Genre Icon Ted Raimi in Single Take Thriller
We are pleased to introduce you to Failure! an upcoming drama, crime and comedy thriller from filmmaker Alex Kahuam starring a genre great, Ted Raimi.
To protect his family, a man is given one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder.
Failure! is in its final weeks of post-production. When complete it will be a 90 minute single take thriller, the first of its kind to be shot by a Mexican director in the US. It was screened at Marche du Film as a work in progress, which generated a lot of interest in the project from their industry peers. Festivals were already asking after its availability once post has been completed. There is no time to capitalize on that interest and start spreading the word everywhere else.
I've learned so much from Ted Raimi and the fact that I'm Mexican and we have different backgrounds, that's why we have successfully worked together and we continue to do so. When I first approached Ted with Failure!'s script and the idea of making a whole feature film with no cuts, his first reaction was while smiling, "I really like your script Alex, but you are crazy. Nobody in Hollywood does that. Every film has cuts for a reason". Then I replied "Exactly! We can do something different, interesting and unique!". He replied to me with another smile, "I will say it again, you are a crazy young director with a great script but a crazy plan". Then he made a pause, he looked at me and said, "Projects like this one don't come often or in fact they don't come ever." He made another pause and said: "This is crazy but I trust you and I want to be part of it, I'm in". After that I jumped and started to scream like a crazy madman, I was so excited. I really want to thank Ted for all the trust in me. I knew I was asking for something crazy (and) out of the ordinary, that nobody does in the industry and I know how much I asked for him. Ted did an outstanding job in the film. I've seen the film many times and he is incredible. He is one of the few actors in the history of cinema to have accomplished what he has, which is to be on screen with no cuts for a whole feature film.
Failure! is the first project in a new movement that Kahuam has created called Herman@s réalisateurs 23. Any project that comes to the movement will have a set of rules to follow, think the manifesto of Dogma 95 started by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. While we do not know all of the rules the key ones that Kahuam shared with us are as follows.
Directors coming with a project must have done their first or second feature film. All projects must be international co-productions with at least two countries working together, Failure! is a Mexican-American co-production. This is meant to further connect global filmmakers to each other and learn from each other's cultures. And thirdly, this one counts towards style of filmmaking, films must have long takes throughout. This one comes from Kahuam's love for them, obviously with this first film he has ticked that requirement off of the to-do list.
There will be some exemptions for specific filmmakers. If a film only has one country of production then it will need to have a diverse cast and crew. This way the filmmakers will still have the international approach even if it has just one country of production.
The main objective of the movement is to connect artists from around the World, to learn from each other and work together to create interesting films. Since he started his own production company Promotora NAE five years ago Kahuam has always had an international partner. There is a second project already lined up for Herman@s réalisateurs 23, from a Mexican director and friend of Kahuam. They are also one of the creators of the movement. Details about this next project will be revealed in due time.
Also, you'll read it here first. Kahuam and Raimi are continuing their collaborative efforts and are currently creating and writing a TV show. They've not shared a word about this other project until now.
We'll have more information about Failure! future Herman@s réalisateurs 23 projects and more from Kahuam and Raimi as it happens.
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