ConFluence Film

Daniel Kremer's New Film A Simple Game of Catch

2012-01-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

Daniel Kremer has just completed principal photography on his new fiction film A Simple Game of Catch. The film is an unusual little chamber drama which stars Alanna Blair (Kremer's The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour, and the lead in C. Andrew Hall's new feature Frogtown) as a young woman named Emily. She has recently changed her name to Chazz and has emigrated from Pittsburgh to New York City. She responds to a job ad involving parrot-sitting for a Manhattanite going out of town, and must weather the internal backlash from the humiliating thing she decides to do while cooped up house-sitting, having unreciprocated conversations with the parrot all the while. The film was shot over a period of seven days, on HD. A trailer is forthcoming. A release date is set for late summer 2012. Supporting cast includes Jacob Green, Stephen Kaufman and Tango the Parrot.

Tangled Fringes: ConFluence-Film Releases the Title of Its Newest Documentary!

2011-11-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

Filmmakers Daniel Kremer and Aaron Hollander (cinematographer of A Trip to Swadades and The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour) are co-directing a feature-length documentary about the phenomenon of baalei teshuva (newly observant Orthodox Jews) and the kiruv (outreach) organizations that recruit and nurture them. This will be the first definitive feature-length documentary portrait of the baal teshuva phenomenon, examining the physical, mental and social evolution of the individual, and the considerable challenges such an individual faces. The piece will be thorough in exploring a movement that continues to grow and expand in size and energy — and is now, more than ever, flourishing. To see a full quality HD version of the teaser trailer, go here. More updates are coming soon!

Philly Broadcaster Reviews ConFluence-Film's Newest!

2011-08-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

The August 18 premiere screenings of John Gross' The Wind Blows Where It Wishes and Daniel Kremer's The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour at International House's Ibrahim Theater in Philadelphia were a fantastic success! Philly Broadcaster columnist Frank Cassella has published reviews of the two ConFluence-Film titles. To read the review, go here or click the above image.

Two All New Articles Promoting the August 18 ConFluence-Film Premieres!

2011-08-17T09:48:00.001-07:00

The Philadelphia blog Around Philly just today published an article about the August 18 grand premiere of The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour. Philly Broadcaster writer Frank Cassella has also written a second article, a follow-up to the first article published on June 13, interviews Idiotmaker director Daniel Kremer along with John Gross, the writer-director of The Wind Blows Where It Wishes.

A New Article About the Team at ConFluence-Film

2011-06-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

Frank Cassella, a columnist for Philly Broadcaster, has written an article about ConFluence-Film, on the occasion of two new films we are readying to premiere on August 18 at International House Theater in Philadelphia. To read the article, click here.

Coming Soon! John Gross' New Short Film The Wind Blows Where It Wishes

2011-06-09T08:38:00.001-07:00

John Gross is in post-production on his latest short film, the visually and thematically stunning The Wind Blows Where It Wishes. In what is perhaps his most challenging, dazzlingly original and stimulating film yet, Gross tells the story of laconic young Hebrew-speaking art-world iconoclast Carla Durkow (Maya Baruch), who has come from Istanbul to present her film Farewell Mighty Spirit at a Philadelphia gallery. In the dubbed, black-and-white film-within-the-film, the Grand Poet of the town of Santa Maria (William Cully Allen) has suddenly died and the townsfolk have gathered for the reading of the poet’s will, wherein the poet’s successor is named. The arrival of the town’s much disliked vulgarian philistine Raphaelo Algarosa (Christian Alsis) and his lackeys spurs a tense altercation. Events following the screening defy most anyone’s expectation. Gross' film, along with Daniel Kremer's feature The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour, will be screening at Philadelphia's International House on August 18, 2011, at 7:00. Please join us at the premiere! Both films should be an unforgettable screening experience for most everyone. Watch the trailer for The Wind Blows Where It Wishes below.

Charles at the Threshold: An Older ConFluence Title Gets a Whole New Look

2011-06-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Daniel Kremer's 2006 short film Charles at the Threshold (formerly titled Crumbs from a Hard-Boiled Egg) has received a lovely new poster design, designed by the filmmaker. The DVD cover for the film has also been updated. Check the Store page to see the new design. Charles at the Threshold is a tender drama that tells the story of Charles and Sabina, two exceptionally intelligent teenagers who have just graduated high school. They decide to get married at eighteen just one week after they graduate, only to divorce at the age of nineteen. The years pass and Charles, a self-professed “old soul,” begins seeing a woman named Jillian, a fragile free-spirit and single mother of an infant. When a seemingly typical friendly lunch meeting with Sabina approaches, Charles begins showing signs of anxiety—and from just looking at him, Jillian realizes where the mysterious Charles’ true feelings may lie, and that the love he held held for Sabina might have been more than impulsive or lacking in maturity. This short film takes an interesting look at the problems created by our drives to connect and procreate, and our tendency to look back on previous relationships with longing and regret. It is important to note that Charles at the Threshold is a slightly recut and revised version of the earlier Crumbs from a Hard-Boiled Egg. Fundamentally, it remains the same, but the last act has changed significantly and the new title reflects more the film's purpose, tone and character.

Coming Soon! Daniel Kremer's New Film The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour

2010-08-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

Daniel Kremer's recent voyages to India have an upcoming feature-length film currently in post-production. The Idiotmaker's Gravity Tour stars ConFluence-Film veterans William Cully Allen (A Collection of Chemicals) and Glenn Walsh (A Trip to Swadades), and welcomes various new faces to the ConFluence repertoire, including actress of the New York and Los Angeles stage and screen Alanna Blair (Frogtown), Julie Edelstein, K.J. Linhein and Peter Brunette. The film boasts exciting filming locations in California's Humboldt County, Montreal and, especially, rural and urban Uttar Pradesh, India, including the beautiful city of Varanasi. The film tells the story of 57-year-old Max Plugin (Allen), a flamboyantly irreverent, Bob Dylan-spouting relic of the 60's who ran away from home at the age of 16 and hitched across country. Around this time, he met a man on his journeys named Teschlock, a guru-like figure who wanted to take his five disciples with him to live at an ashram in India. Max begged off to return to his family and finish school. Forty years later, Max finally arrives in India to find the mysterious, unknown and unmarked gravesite of his master Teschlock who, it is rumored, died while burying himself a year after his arrival there. Max's journey forms the heart of this exciting film, Kremer's first in over two years. The film also sports a cast featuring a host of talented Indian citizens who discovered their acting chops with this film.

John Gross' Prometheus Gives Fire to Man

2010-08-03T20:28:00.001-07:00

Prometheus Gives Fire to Man from John Gross on Vimeo.

John Gross conceived and directed this short experimental film for a competition being judged by filmmaker David Lynch.

A New Poster for A Collection of Chemicals

2009-10-19T14:26:00.001-07:00

Philadelphia-based artist and graphic designer Doctor Pizzoli has designed an all-new screen-printed poster for the film A Collection of Chemicals. Pizzoli also designed two posters for Max Margulies and Naoko Masuda (who are friends of ConFluence Films), respectively for their film God of Tears and their Philadelphia Fringe Festival play A History of Shit. For more information about Doctor Pizzoli and his work, visit his website. A Collection of Chemicals is screening at the Wild Rivers 101 Film Festival in Eureka, California and Arcata, California this week. It has screened at two other film festivals, and we are waiting to here back from many others. For the Wild Rivers 101 schedule of films, click here. Stay tuned for updates!