About This Program

Sci-fi is the theme of this block's short and feature presentation.

Enigma

Director: Michael Washington

Narrative Short, USA, 2019, 7 min, Color, Student Project (Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, US)

A young woman is torn between good and evil in a never-ending struggle.

Great Lakes connection: The director is a student in Detroit, Michigan.

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Feature Presentation

Empty Metal

Narrative Feature, Sci-Fi, Thriller, USA, 2018, 77 min, Color

About the Film

Set in the abusive police state of the contemporary United States, Empty Metal follows five groups of characters, each emblematic of a different extreme political ideology, as they attempt insurrection against the status quo: A punk band is coerced into a dangerous assassination plot by a family of militant Native Americans who are aided by a Rastafarian computer hacker who is old friends with a Buddhist hermit whose son is a local militia leader.

This tangled web of marginalized voices is as diverse and contradictory as the nation that spun it, but there is a common thread: All the characters teeter on the dull knife blade that is contemporary American politics, but they refuse to fall right or left. Instead, they lash out from the soul, and under the radar, in an attempt to achieve what their mainstream predecessors have yet to accomplish.

And all the while, the drones are watching…

Great Lakes connection:

One of the co-directors is originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Cast & Crew:

Directors: Adam Khalil, Bayley Sweitzer
Writers: Adam Khalil, Bayley Sweitzer
Producers: Andrew Fierberg, Steve Holmgren, Tiffany Sia, Alex Lazarowich
Key Cast: Rose Mori, Austin Sley Julian, Sam Richardson

Awards:

Tacoma Film Festival (Tacoma, WA), Oct. 8, 2018, Best Director - Narrative Feature

More Info:

WEBSITE     TRAILER