The Sean Bell Film Project is a series of short films inspired by and/or about the brutal and tragic death of Sean Bell at the hands of New York's elite police officers.
It is once again organized by ED DURANTE, and he has come up with even more rules which must be incorporated into the film. I think they are: only 2 speaking characters, one location, one day shoot, delivery within 7 days of shooting, and a maximum length of 3 minutes. Due Date is sometime in Septemeber. I am sure there are more rules, but those are the general guidelines.
So what will my film be about? At the moment, I am thinking of using my 13 month old daugher, Aniya, as the star. I might have many more characters, but none of them will speak. How about a busy children's playground in Prospect Park.. water throwing, slides- the general rough housing.. the police are outside the park, all shot in slo-mo, laughing as they load their weapons, a kid points his finger at Aniya and says "BANG BANG"... in response the police let out a reign of gun fire.. blackness and earth shattering silence.. and an empty swing swaying... an empty jungle gym, an empty sand box, the water sprays, but no kids can be heard.. THE END.
I know this will be highly effective, moving and disturbing- but do I really want to go there? To that deep dark spot.. to elicit a guaranteed response? I am still trying to figure it out.