Motion Film Group " GUN HILL ROAD " US Dramatic Competition Opens August 5th Log line: After three years in prison, Enrique returns to the Bronx to find his wife estranged and his teenage son stumbling towards a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test. Synopsis: After three years in prison, Enrique (Esai Morales) returns home to the Bronx to find the world he knew has changed. His wife, Angela (Judy Reyes), struggles to hide an emotional affair, and his teenage son, Michael (newcomer Harmony Santana), explores a sexual transformation well beyond Enrique's grasp and understanding. Unable to accept his child, Enrique clings to his masculine ideals while Angela attempts to hold the family together by protecting Michael. Still under the watchful eye of his parole officer (Isiah Whitlock, Jr), Enrique must become the father he needs to be or, once again, risk losing his family and freedom. Can a father’s fierce love for his family overcome his street-hardened ideas about manhood and end the vicious cycle controlling his life? Writer/director Rashaad Ernesto Green’s first feature film is an intricate portrait of a family divided told with sensitivity, gentle humor, and a deep understanding of the environment that shapes its people.
Esai Morales, Judy Reyes: "Enrique and Angela embrace". Photo credit: Daniel Patterson. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT by Rashaad Ernesto Green This story is about real life and real people. Inspired by my own family, Gun Hill Road provides a hard yet truthful glimpse into the Latino culture of the Bronx and how this particular family chooses to deal with a father who must readjust to his surroundings when he returns home from prison, and his struggle to accept his teenage child in transition. Fathers like Enrique believe they are acting in the best interests of their children, by protecting them from hardship or the ills of society. They don’t always see how their behavior can suffocate their children and prevent them from learning, discovering themselves, and living their own lives. I feel for Enrique. I see him in pain, struggling and trapped within his own mental prison. The Bronx has shaped the way Enrique sees the world, his sense of manhood, and what it means to be a man. Bustling with music and life, from the Yankee caps and Puerto Rican flags blowing in the wind, to the cuchifritos and cat calling on every corner, what’s not to love about the Bronx? But the world is constantly changing, especially the world that exists outside of the Bronx. By making this film, I hope to encourage dialog about an issue in this community that needs to be addressed. It’s happening right now. The old school culture of the Bronx is at war with its youth. The younger spirited generation is much more open minded and accepting of difference than ever before, leaving them at odds with their parents who raised them. I want to explore a side and complexity of the Bronx and Latino life that is rarely seen in films. At the end of the day, Enrique is a beautiful person who loves his child dearly. He just hasn’t been equipped with the tools necessary to break his mental chains. The struggle that exists within Enrique is the same plight that plagues the entire Bronx. And if it’s happening here, it’s happening everywhere. Peace & blessings. RASHAAD ERNESTO GREEN (Writer/Director) Starting his career as an actor, New York native Rashaad Ernesto Green received his BA from Dartmouth College, MFA from the NYU Graduate Acting Program, and recently graduated from NYU's Graduate Film Program. After spending three years acting in theaters nationwide and working with directors such as Spike Lee, Rashaad worked as a teacher in the South Bronx before moving behind the camera to tell stories. Rashaad was included on the latest edition of Filmmaker Magazine’s elite 25 New Faces of Independent Film list as well as indieWIRE's 2009 Top Ten New Voices in Cinema. The world premiere of Rashaad’s film Premature won the Grand Jury Prize in the 2008 HBO Short Film Competition and screened on HBO. Premature has played over 40 festivals worldwide, was broadcast in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Kenya, Japan, and has garnered over 20 awards, including the Directors Guild of America Student Award and the National Board of Review Award. His short Choices premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and his short Cuts also screened on HBO. Selected for the 2010 Tribeca All Access Program, IFP’s Independent Film Week, and a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Foundation–Cary Grant Film Award, Rashaad recently completed his thesis feature film Gun Hill Road, starring Esai Morales and Judy Reyes, which premiered in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Competition. Gun Hill Road was picked up by U.S. distributor Motion Film Group and will be released this summer. Find out more about Gun Hill Road at www.gunhillroad.com & about Director Rashaad Ernesto Green at www.mialmafilms.com.
GUN HILL ROAD (US Dramatic Competition): TRAILER (VO) - FILM CLIPS (VO): " Dinner Scene" - " Angela Cuts Michael´s Hari" - " Teacher´s Conference" - " Michael Runs Away" - " Enrique Asks Michael To Come Home" - " Angela & Enrique Conversation in Bedroom" -