Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Spotlight on: Todd Verow

Image source: bangorfilms.com

He’s earned a name for himself as digital cinema’s bad boy and as a pioneering director of queer cinema. Whether you love his films or hate them (and whichever side you stand on, you’re certainly not alone), you can’t deny his enthusiasm for filmmaking. Since his first feature "Frisk," released in 1995, Todd Verow has churned out 20 films at breakneck speed.

His storylines range from sweet, autobiographical coming-of-age tales like "Vacationland" to the dark and disturbing portraits in his “Addiction Trilogy.” Verow’s been hailed as a new kind of director in publications like Variety, Wired, and Time, thanks to his ever evolving filmmaking techniques, which are in themselves commentaries on digital technology. The experimental "Hooks To The Left," for instance, was filmed using a Nokia cell phone, while his latest film festival entry "Deleted Scenes" constructs a romance with just that – loosely connected “deleted scenes” taken from the theoretical narrative of a relationship.

Our QC Cinema label is excited to be working with Todd on his next release – "The Final Girl"(coming to DVD August 31). The film uses his usual digital vérité handheld camera aesthetic, but throws a few new elements into his typical storytelling approach. For one, it’s his first lesbian narrative (the film is about a missing woman named Leena and the four other women who can’t seem to get her out of their minds). Secondly, it’s a French language film shot in Paris (For the record, Verow is American– born in Bangor, Maine). It’s a captivating film, and one that doesn’t attempt to offer audiences all the answers.

We expect "The Final Girl" to be just as divisive as Verow’s earlier work – it begins, after all, with one of the rawest and steamiest sex scenes of recent memory – but those with their eyes on the frontlines of digital cinema are encouraged to check it out. For a taste of Verow’s style, see the trailer for "The Final Girl" below.


1 comment:

  1. Just based on this trailer, Verow's appears to be a captivating storyteller. There were so many images in this brief trailer that were haunting. I thought the title interesting, The Final Girl. In the horror genre aesthetic, the 'final girl' is usually the last one standing at the end of a slasher film. She's the one who must become a hero in spite of herself and thwart the killer. The 'final girl' in the context of this film is more ambiguous. I found it also intriguing that is was in French. Very cool. I may have to check this one out.

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