All the Vermeers in New York
Vermeer's paintings open up a path to love in the capitalist rat race of New York. But its course does not run smoothly.
90'
USA
IFFR 2020
"Psychedelic history" is what Noel Lawrence calls this LSD-drenched version of the Watergate scandal. Think: a satanic Richard Nixon talking like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. In 1972, the break-in at the Democratic headquarters in Washington wasn't a simple Republican plot.
This motley mix of fiction and altered archive images has a lead role for celebrity Sammy Davis Jr, who is sent to Vietnam by president Nixon to find out why so many American GIs are becoming heroin addicts. Davis uncovers a right-wing conspiracy set up by American billionaire Howard Hughes, who is importing vast quantities of heroin into America to get the black inner-city youth addicted, with the aim of suppressing the political activism that was arising in the late 1960s.
Why make "a psychedelic trip into the 1970s polyester heart of darkness"? Because this allows you to uncover hidden truths, Lawrence says, taking his lead from the Surrealists of the early twentieth century.
IFFR 2020
- 88'
- USA
- 2020
- Director
- Noel Lawrence
- Premiere
- World premiere
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2020
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2020
- Length
- 88'
- Medium
- DCP
- Language
- English
- Producers
- Noel Lawrence, Karina Pyudik
- Production Company
- J.X. Williams Archive
- Sales
- J.X. Williams Archive
- Screenplay
- Noel Lawrence, Darius James
- Cinematography
- Stephan Wassmann, Tabbert Fiiller
- Editor
- Noel Lawrence
- Production Design
- Priscilla Elliott
- Sound Design
- Cody Troy
- Music
- K.P.Thomas, Eric D. Clark, Brennan E. Johns
- Cast
- Richard Beatty, Philip Proctor, Peter Henry Schroeder, Durga McBroom, Reginald M. Jernigan Jr.
- Director
- Noel Lawrence
- Premiere
- World premiere
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2020
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2020
- Length
- 88'
- Medium
- DCP
- Language
- English
- Producers
- Noel Lawrence, Karina Pyudik
- Production Company
- J.X. Williams Archive
- Sales
- J.X. Williams Archive
- Screenplay
- Noel Lawrence, Darius James
- Cinematography
- Stephan Wassmann, Tabbert Fiiller
- Editor
- Noel Lawrence
- Production Design
- Priscilla Elliott
- Sound Design
- Cody Troy
- Music
- K.P.Thomas, Eric D. Clark, Brennan E. Johns
- Cast
- Richard Beatty, Philip Proctor, Peter Henry Schroeder, Durga McBroom, Reginald M. Jernigan Jr.
Programme IFFR 2020
Regained
Drawing upon cinematic memories: restored classics, films about film(makers), experimental works and installations.
Read more about this programmeAthanor – The Alchemical Furnace
A journey through the life and work of Jan Švankmajer, last remaining hero of surrealism, who occupies a unique place in the history of cinema.
117'
Czech Republic
IFFR 2020
Crash
James Ballard's near-fatal car accident gives rise to extreme desires. Cult film by Cronenberg in which car fetishists go to extremes to satisfy their passion.
100'
Canada
IFFR 2020