Monday, March 30, 2009

Photo gallery: AFI Dallas red carpet at the Magnolia

By John P. Meyer

Sunday night, March 29 marked the premiere of North Texas filmmaker Justin Hilliard's second feature-length directorial effort, The Other Side of Paradise. The movie was an official selection of the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival and screened as part of the Texas Competition.

You may recall we interviewed several of the filmmakers and actors associated with Hilliard's Striped Socks Productions back in January of 2007. Then, in February of 2008, we got together once again with Arianne Martin to hear about her role in the zombie picture Red Victoria.

And here we were, photographing them as they paraded across the carpet as VIP guests of the AFI Dallas Film Fest. Heady stuff.

Joining the Other Side folks on the carpet that evening were filmmakers and talent from the films Danzak, Poetry of Exactitude, Push Button House, Smokey, Team Taliban, Tipping Point, Rudo y Cursi and Skin. Check out the photo gallery for - well - the photos.

Following the red carpet (held at the Landmark Magnolia) I hoofed it over to Northpark in time to catch the movie. We'll do a full review the film at a later date, but two outstanding aspects of the production emerged: 1) Ryan Hartsell's polished and imaginative cinematography style, employing floating camera shots and one or two seemingly magical transitions, and 2) Frank Mosley's dead solid fabulous performance as a short-stuff tough guy recently released from prison. Jamie (Mosley's character) is a man of few words - and those he utters are delivered deadpan and dry. Credit to the writing team (Hilliard, Martin and Hartsell) for giving Jamie all the best - and funniest - lines.

Yeah, romantic leads Arianne Martin and John Elliott are also deserving of plaudits (along with other cast members), but it's Mosley's performance that sticks to the critical ribs after the screen goes dark.

Aside from the technical projection glitch that stalled our viewing of the film for an uncomfortable fifteen or twenty minutes, it was a fun evening for all involved.

Related stories

• Movie review and director/writer interview: Justin Hilliard for The Other Side of Paradise (July 28, 2009)
• Pegasus News film guys pick their USA Film Festival “must-see” flicks (April 29, 2009)
• North Texas filmmaker Frank Mosley plans live staged script reading (April 7, 2009)

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• Arts > Movies / Film > Film Festivals > AFI Dallas