Anywhere, U.S.A.

Last updated

Anywhere, U.S.A.
Directed byChusy Haney-Jardine
Written byChusy Haney-Jardine
Jennifer Macdonald
Produced byJennifer Macdonald
Andy O'Neil (co-prod.)
Starring Perla Haney-Jardine
Jeremiah Brennan
Mike Ellis
Mary Griffin
Rafat Abu-Goush
Molly Surrett
Sheliah Ray Hipps
Brian Fox
Ralph Brierley
Dianne Chapman
Ellis Robinson
CinematographyPatrick Rousseau
Edited byChusy Haney-Jardine
Music byArizona
Holiday Childress
Chusy Haney-Jardine
Chris Rosser
Jason Smith
Production
company
Found Films
Distributed byCinevolve Studios
Release date
  • January 17, 2008 (2008-01-17)(Sundance Film Festival)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Anywhere, U.S.A. is a 2008 feature film directed by Chusy Haney-Jardine and starring mostly non-professional actors. The film is told in three parts: Penance, Loss, and Ignorance, with each story obliquely related to the next. Anywhere, U.S.A premiered in dramatic competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival where it won the "Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence". [1]

Contents

Plot

His first feature film, Chusy had originally envisioned his movie as twenty different stories. Of those twenty, four stories were shot in their entirety, and two stories were started but never finished. The fourth story, tentatively titled "Holes," was excluded from the final cut to avoid an extended runtime and to ensure by implication its chance to compete in the Sundance Film Festival.

Part 1:Penance

Penance, the opening story of the film, follows a woman who just discovered the Internet, her philandering boyfriend, and his jingoistic sidekick who happens to be a dwarf.

Part 2: Loss

Loss, originally titled Wanderlings, is the second story in the film. Perla Haney-Jardine stars as Pearl, an 8-year-old girl who faces an existential crisis during her pursuit of the tooth fairy.

Part 3: Ignorance

Ignorance, tentatively titled Black and White, is the third and final act of the film.

Production history

In September 2005, a week prior to the first scheduled day of production, Chusy contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Bedridden with debilitating headaches and sustained high fevers, the disease sent Chusy into a near-comatose state. Over the next few weeks, he slowly recovered, and feeling the pressures of time and money, Chusy made the executive decision to start production, shooting on the Panasonic Varicam. The first official shoot day was November 1, 2005, however, on Thanksgiving Day 2005, having not yet fully recovered and dissatisfied with the material he was getting, Chusy decided to halt production indefinitely.

In March 2006, Chusy flew in cinematographer and long-time friend, Patrick Rousseau, to perform camera tests on Panasonic's new P2 camcorder, the HVX200. The camera's relaxed workflow was a breakthrough for Chusy, and having had several months to recover, Chusy took advantage of Patrick's availability and resumed production on March 21, 2006. This also marked the first official shoot day for the story Loss, which appears as the second story in film. The last official shoot day for Loss was April 9, 2006. The crew began shooting Holes on April 5, 2006. While it does not appear in the final cut of the film, the last official shoot day for Holes was April 14, 2006. From April 15 to July 7, 2006, Chusy shot fifteen days pickups and reshoots for Loss and Holes in Patrick's absence.

July 20, 2006 marked the first official shoot day for Penance, which appears as the first story in the film. The last official shoot day for Penance was August 14, 2006. August 9, 2006 marked the first official shoot day for Ignorance, which appears as the third story in the film. The last official shoot day for "Ignorance" was August 20, 2006.

Patrick Rousseau flew back to Asheville, NC to shoot reshoots for the story Penance from February 13 to 18, 2007. The remaining voice over work was recorded in Chusy's home with Virato.

Festivals and awards

FestivalAward
2008
2008 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize (Dramatic, The Spirit of Independence)
Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival
Philadelphia Film Festival
Calgary International Film Festival
BFI London Film Festival
Stockholm International Film Festival
2009
Jacksonville Film Festival Best USA Feature Film
Chicago Underground Film Festival Opening Night Film
Boston Underground Film Festival Director's Choice Award for Best Feature

Related Research Articles

<i>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</i> 1969 American Western buddy film by George Roy Hill

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy, and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the "Sundance Kid", who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The pair and Sundance's lover, Etta Place, flee to Bolivia to escape the posse.

<i>Alias Smith and Jones</i> American Western series

Alias Smith and Jones is an American Western television series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy as Jedediah "Kid" Curry, outlaw cousins who are trying to reform. The governor offers them a clemency deal on two conditions: that they keep the agreement a secret, and that they will remain wanted fugitives until the governor decides that they should receive a formal amnesty.

<i>Cursed</i> (2005 film) 2005 film by Wes Craven

Cursed is a 2005 American horror comedy film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, who both collaborated on the Scream film series. The film stars Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg as two orphaned siblings attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Burns</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1968)

Edward Fitzgerald Burns is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with The Brothers McMullen (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Holiday (2006), 27 Dresses (2008), Man on a Ledge (2012), Friends with Kids (2012), and Alex Cross (2012). Burns directed films such as She's the One (1996), Sidewalks of New York (2001), and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (2012). On television, he appeared as Bugsy Siegel in the TNT crime drama series Mob City and as Terry Muldoon in TNT's Public Morals.

"Steam Heat" is a show tune from the 1954 Broadway musical The Pajama Game, written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.

<i>Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers</i> 1995 film by Joe Chappelle

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 American slasher film directed by Joe Chappelle, written by Daniel Farrands, and starring Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd, Marianne Hagan, and Mitch Ryan. The sixth installment in the Halloween film series, the plot depicts Michael Myers hunting down the infant son of his niece, Jamie Lloyd. It expands significantly upon the supernatural horror elements that were sparsely introduced in the previous film, mainly the subplot of a cult that controls Myers and drives him to murder his bloodline using the ancient rune of Thorn. It marks the final appearance of Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis before his death, as well as the feature film debut of Rudd, who portrays an adult Tommy Doyle from the original Halloween (1978). This also marks the last major role of George P. Wilbur before his death in 2023.

<i>Ghost Rider</i> (2007 film) 2007 film by Mark Steven Johnson

Ghost Rider is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, it was produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment, Crystal Sky Pictures, and Relativity Media, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film stars Nicolas Cage as the titular character, with Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Donal Logue, Matt Long, and Peter Fonda in supporting roles. The film follows Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul and becomes the Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter of evil demons.

<i>Hammett</i> (film) 1982 film by Wim Wenders

Hammett is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Wim Wenders and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay was written by Ross Thomas and Dennis O'Flaherty, based on the novel of the same name by Joe Gores. It stars Frederic Forrest as detective story writer Dashiell Hammett, who gets caught up in a mystery very much like one of his own stories. Marilu Henner plays Hammett's neighbor, Kit Conger, and Peter Boyle plays Jimmy Ryan, an old friend from Hammett's days as a Pinkerton agent. The film was entered into the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Blood Bath</i> 1966 American horror film by Stephanie Rothman and Jack Hill

Blood Bath is a 1966 American horror film directed by Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman and starring William Campbell, Linda Saunders, Marissa Mathes, and Sid Haig. The film concerns a mad painter of weird art who turns into a vampire-like man by night, apparently as a result of a family curse, and believes that he has found his reincarnated mistress in the person of an avant-garde ballerina.

<i>Hell of the Living Dead</i> Film by Bruno Mattei

Hell of the Living Dead is a 1980 horror film directed by Bruno Mattei. The film is set in a laboratory in Papua New Guinea that releases a dangerous chemical, turning the technicians and locals into zombies. A French news reporter and her crew land on the island to investigate.

<i>The Maltese Falcon</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by John Huston

The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut. Based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, it is a remake of the 1931 film of the same name.

<i>Wristcutters: A Love Story</i> 2006 American black comedy movie

Wristcutters: A Love Story is a 2006 dark comedy film written and directed by Goran Dukić. It stars Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, and Shannyn Sossamon as denizens of a strange afterlife way-station that has been reserved for people who committed suicide. It is based on Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers." A graphic novel version was titled Pizzeria Kamikaze. The film was produced on an estimated budget of $1 million. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed in limited release on October 19, 2007, before being expanded into wide release on November 2, 2007. Lionsgate Home Entertainment released it on DVD on March 25, 2008. The film received positive reviews and has since garnered a cult following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Liebesman</span> South African film director

Jonathan Liebesman is a South African film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films Darkness Falls (2003), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).

<i>The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day</i> 2009 film by Troy Duffy

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is a 2009 vigilante action thriller film written and directed by Troy Duffy, based on a story he co-wrote with his brother Taylor. A sequel to The Boondock Saints (1999), the film stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr., Julie Benz, Peter Fonda, and Billy Connolly. Set eight years after the events of the first film, it follows Irish fraternal twin brothers Connor and Murphy MacManus living a quiet life in Ireland with their father Noah, formerly known as "Il Duce" (Connolly). However, when an assassin frames the twins for the murder of a Catholic priest, they return to Boston and join forces with Mexican underground fighter Romeo and FBI Special Agent Eunice Bloom (Benz), a former protégée of Paul Smecker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cameron Mitchell</span> American film director (born 1963)

John Cameron Mitchell is an American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is based on the stage musical of the same name. He also portrayed the role of Joe Exotic in the Peacock limited series Joe vs. Carole in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panasonic AG-DVX100</span> Digital video camcorder

The Panasonic AG-DVX100 is a video camera released on October 13, 2002. Its 60-hertz version was the first consumer digital camcorder capable of recording video at 24 frames per second (FPS), the standard frame rate for 35 mm sound film.

Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen is a Nigerian film director and film producer. Popularly known as De' Guvnor of Nollywood.

<i>Strangers</i> (2007 Israeli film) 2007 Israeli film

Strangers (Zarim) is a 2007 Israeli experimental fictional film directed by Guy Nattiv and Erez Tadmor that is set during the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 Lebanon War. It is the first feature film that they made together and was developed from an award-winning 2004 short of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Seimetz</span> American actress, writer, director

Amy Seimetz is an American actress and filmmaker. She has appeared in several productions, including AMC's The Killing, HBO's Family Tree, and films like Upstream Color, Alien: Covenant, Pet Sematary, and No Sudden Move.

<i>Mary and Martha</i> (film) 2013 TV series or program

Mary and Martha is a 2013 British-American television film starring Hilary Swank and Brenda Blethyn, and directed by Phillip Noyce. Based on a screenplay by Richard Curtis, it was produced by Working Title Television, in association with the BBC and NBCUniversal. The film had its UK premiere on 1 March 2013 on BBC One and premiered in the US on HBO on 20 April 2013. The film is based on a true story. The film centers around two mothers, one British, one American, who share only one thing in common: the loss of their sons to malaria. After the deaths of their sons, the mothers decide to travel to Africa to help with malaria prevention. The film was nominated for the Humanitas Prize.

References

  1. "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition" (PDF). 2007-11-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2007-12-20.