American Taboo | |
---|---|
Directed by | Steve Lustgarten |
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography |
|
Edited by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 minutes [2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20,000 [2] |
American Taboo is a 1983 American independent drama film directed by Steve Lustgarten. [3] Its plot follows a thirty-something year old photographer who begins an illicit romance with a teenage girl. It won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Student Film for Lustgarten, a film student at Portland State University. [2]
The film was shot on location in Portland, Oregon on a budget of $20,000. [2] The feature was a student film by Steve Lustgarten, a film student at Portland State University. [2]
The film screened in Minneapolis in 1983 in the Film in the Cities' Gallery. [1] It had a revival screening at the American Film Institute eight years later, in July 1991. [2]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "has a rich visual elegance. The portrayals Lustgarten elicits from Horenstein and Harrison are amazingly persuasive, especially in the case of Harrison, who keeps us guessing throughout as to whether Lisa really is as sophisticated as she would like us to think she is." [2] LA Weekly also praised the film, noting that Lustgarten "tiptoes around every cliché attached to older-man/young-girl and owl-and-pussycat types of films, creating a refreshing guide to bruised emotions and the insurgent power of love." [4]
Institution | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Student Academy Awards | Best Film — Drama | Steve Lustgarten | Won | [5] |
Jane Powell was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powell appeared in films, television and on the stage, performing in the musicals A Date with Judy (1948), Royal Wedding (1951), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Hit the Deck (1955).
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbury in St. Elmo's Fire, Alex in Cybermutt, Joe Hunt in Billionaire Boys Club, Nick Peretti in New Jack City, Billy Beretti in Empire, and Jack Richmond in the television series Suddenly Susan.
Deborah Lynn Foreman is an American photographer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the 1983 film Valley Girl opposite Nicolas Cage. She is also regarded as a scream queen and known for playing in various horror films of the 1980s, such as April Fool's Day, Waxwork, Destroyer and Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat.
Blue Desert is a 1991 American psychological thriller film directed by Bradley Battersby and starring Courteney Cox and D. B. Sweeney. The original music score is composed by Joel Goldsmith. The filming locations were Inyokern, California and Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, California.
The Student Academy Awards are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in an annual competition for college and university filmmakers.
Omen IV: The Awakening is a 1991 American supernatural horror television film directed by Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Girard and written by Brian Taggert, from a story by producer Harvey Bernhard and Taggert. The film is the fourth installment in The Omen series and the final installment of the original series. It stars Faye Grant, Michael Woods, Michael Lerner, and Asia Vieira. Its plot follows two attorneys who adopt a young girl, unaware of the fact that she is to possibly succeed Damien Thorn as the Antichrist.
The Last American Virgin is a 1982 American coming-of-age sex comedy film written and directed by Boaz Davidson, and starring Lawrence Monoson, Diane Franklin, Steve Antin, Joe Rubbo, and Louisa Moritz. A remake of Davidson's 1978 Israeli film Lemon Popsicle, it follows a Los Angeles high school student who, while attempting to lose his virginity, falls in love with one of his female classmates as she begins dating his rebellious best friend.
R U the Girl is an American reality television music competition series that aired on UPN in 2005. The series featured Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, the remaining members of the all-girl R&B group TLC whose former member, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, died in a car crash in Honduras in 2002. Initially promoted by the network as a contest to replace Lopes 3 years after her death, both Watkins and Thomas clarified that the winner of the contest would not be joining TLC full-time and would not be a full-time replacement member; the winner would only provide guest vocals on a new single by the duo.
Reb Brown is an American former football player and actor. Born in the Los Angeles area, Brown played football in high school and University. He first appeared on film and television in the early 1970s, playing minor or supporting roles up until 1979, where he played Captain America in two made-for-tv films.
Tom Hatten was an American radio, film and television personality and actor, known as the long-time host of The Popeye Show and Family Film Festival on KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles in the 1960s through the '80s. Hatten was one of those television "pioneers"—from the 1950s and 1960s programs done "live"—no matter what mistakes happened. He also appeared in dozens of musicals, films and television shows.
Necromancy is a 1972 American supernatural horror film directed by Bert I. Gordon and starring Orson Welles, Pamela Franklin, Michael Ontkean, and Lee Purcell. The plot follows an enigmatic cult leader in a small California town who attempts to harness the powers of a local woman to resurrect his dead son.
Badja Medu Djola was an American actor from Brooklyn, New York who worked primarily within black film. He is best known for Mississippi Burning, Penitentiary, A Rage in Harlem, and Who's the Man?.
Carolyn Banks is an American novelist, short-story writer, editor, and screenwriter residing in Bastrop, Texas.
The Unborn is a 1991 American science fiction horror film directed by Rodman Flender and starring Brooke Adams, Jeff Hayenga, James Karen, K Callan, and Jane Cameron. The film's plot concerns a couple who cannot have children; they attempt in-vitro fertilization, but strange things start happening to the mother while she is pregnant.
Hot Rod Girl is an independent, black-and-white 1956 teen-oriented action film produced by Norman T. Herman, directed by Leslie H. Martinson and released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Girls in Prison. Hot Rod Girl stars Lori Nelson, Chuck Connors and John Smith. The film centers on efforts to keep hot-rodding teenagers from dangerous drag racing on city streets and having them move to the safety of a specialized drag strip, and the consequences when an aggressive newcomer to town goads them into street racing again.
The Personals is a 1982 romantic comedy written and directed by Peter Markle. It was shot in Minneapolis. The film was picked up for distribution by Roger Corman's New World Pictures.
Diane Jergens was an American film and television actress.
Maxine Bliss Jennings was an American actress.
John Edward Barandon was an American film, stage and television actor.