SYNOPSIS
A young woman's questionable behavior to free herself from an abusive past leads to a painful reliving of it in the beautiful, isolated beachside of Rockaway, Queens, NY.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
ROCKAWAY is a coming-of-age survival story of Teresa, an abused and displaced teenager, who uses her sexuality in playful but potentially dangerous ways in the wake of her grandmother’s recent death and the loss of the only safe haven she has ever known. The film explores the unsteady terrain through which many young women navigate the transition from unprotected childhood to adulthood, making a contribution to discussions surrounding grief and teenage sexuality.
AWARDS/FESTIVALS/SCREENINGS
2012 Atlanta Film Festival (World Premiere)
GRAND JURY WINNER, 2012 NYU First Run Film Festival (Awards for Directing, Screenwriting, Actress)
2012 Directors Guild of America Showcase of NYU Award-Winning Shorts, Los Angeles
2012 BAMcinemaFEST (NY Premiere)
2012 NewFilmmakers NY @ Anthology Film Archives
2012 HollyShorts Film Festival, Los Angeles
2012 LA Indie Film Festival
2012 Zinebi- 54th Bilbao International Short Film Festival
2013 Gasparilla International Film Festival
2013 Arizona International Film Festival (WINNER, Best Dramatic Short/ Best Performance in a Short Film)
FILM SPECS
Filmed on the ARRIFLEX 416 Plus HS Camera, Kodak Vision 3 Super 16mm film
Exhibition Format: Color; Stereo Mix; TRT: 18 minutes, HDCAM, Digibeta, DVD/Blu-ray, HD File
Country of Production: USA (On location in Rockaway, Queens, New York)
Contact: Melanie Schiele (Director/Writer/Producer) mas358@nyu.edu (347) 749-5870
CAST
Audrey Tommassini as Teresa
Bryan Dechart as Donovan
Zachary Le Vey as The Bartender
Gregg Gilmore as Teresa’s Stepfather
Kenny Sosnowski as Mike
PUBLICITY
Facebook: facebook.com/RockawayShortFilm
Twitter: @RockawayTheFilm and @MelanieSchiele
IndieWIRE: blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/guest-post-growing-into-your-voice-the-resonance-of-rockaway
Tribeca's "Future of Film": tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/future-of-film/With-A-Little-Help-From-My-Friends.html
DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
Melanie Schiele is an award-winning filmmaker from Brooklyn, New York. She is one of only 32 pioneering MFA graduates of the inaugural class of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Asia in Singapore. Her screenplays have been featured in master classes led by acclaimed directors Todd Solondz, Joshua Marston, and Shekhar Kapur.
Melanie’s critically acclaimed short film DELILAH, BEFORE, shot in Singapore, was welcomed with a world premiere at the 2009 Palm Springs International ShortFest. It has since been showcased at many high-profile festivals including the Singapore Short Film Festival, Women's International Film Festival in Miami, San Francisco Women's Film Festival, Michael Moore's invitation-only Traverse City Film Festival, Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival, and it won an audience award for BEST SHORT FILM at the 2010 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL. It was also one of the recipients of the annual OFFICIAL BEST OF FEST AWARDS.
Melanie’s short film ROCKAWAY was shot by her brother and collaborator, Jordan Schiele, whose cinematic achievements include world premieres at Cannes, Tribeca, and Palm Springs. Melanie produced Jordan’s film TEN YEARS FROM NOW, which won the Grand Prize at the 2011 NYU First Run Film Festival and screened at the Director's Guild of America in LA. He is developing his feature script DOG DAYS at the Cannes Residence.
ROCKAWAY premiered at the 2012 Atlanta Film Festival in the program “New Mavericks, Women Directors”. It won awards in directing, screenwriting, and for newcomer actress Audrey Tommassini, at NYU’s First Run Film Festival. It screened for the DGA in Los Angeles as part of an NYU West Coast Showcase and held its NY premiere at the prestigious independent film festival venue BAMcinemaFEST. It has also shown at the Anthology Film Archives in conjunction with NewFilmmakers NY and was an official selection of the HollyShorts Film Festival, where it screened at the historic Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and at the LA Indie Film Festival. It has also played at the Academy-qualifying Bilbao International Short Film Festival, the Gasparilla International Film Festival, and won awards for Best Dramatic Short and Best Performance at the Arizona International Film Festival.
Melanie’s feature script BUTTERFLY CHILDREN is a 2013 Sundance/Sloan Grant Finalist, a Top-Ten Finalist for the 2013 Cinequest Film Festival, a 2013 semi-finalist for American Zoetrope, and a winner at the 2013 Atlanta Film Festival. The script was also a semi-finalist for the 2012 CineStory Screenwriting Awards. The story takes place in the majestic expanse of South Island, New Zealand and is about a furniture craftsman struggling to save his failing marriage and six-year old daughter afflicted with a rare disease, leaving her skin as fragile as a butterfly's wings.