CONTACT:
Sheldon Schiffer
Georgia State University
Mysterious Pictures Productions
404.697.3540
schiffer@gsu.edu
Multi-cultural Georgia State Professor, Sheldon Schiffer
Produces Atlanta-Brazilian Film
ATANTA, GA – August 2, 2007 - Can you trust love if your lover
doesn’t have refuge? This is the question that underlies
the film Nailed!, the latest dramatic short film by Sheldon
Schiffer. Nailed! explores the changing cultural demographic
of urban Atlanta by following the personal experiences of one Brazilian
immigrant, Branca. She must decide how and if she will remain in the
United States legally or otherwise. Her travails involve the exploits
of two con-artists, Patrick and Danny, who try to swindle her for money
in exchange for a green-card wedding they have no intention of fulfilling.
The only problem is that one of them starts to fall in love with her,
which begins to unravel their elaborate scheme. The film also explores
Branca’s pursuit of an American husband as she struggles with
her desires for security and cultural integration.
Currently, there is a rise in Brazilian immigrants drawn to the American “promised-land,” and
especially to Atlanta, Georgia. However, the challenge for those who
intend to stay indefinitely is to do so legally, or at least with the
appearance of legality. The story of Nailed! is one where
each of the characters use a cunning ability to project selected and
even reconstructed identities in order to get what they want: money,
stability, refuge and adventure. But what each character realizes is
that the price of deception is loneliness and a life without real love.
For brief moments, the characters have the chance to act on their truest
feelings, despite the consequences of the law.
So what
inspired Georgia State University professor Sheldon Schiffer to come up with
this idea to make a film? "I have been asked twice by Latin American women
if I would marry them for money. I never took them up on it, but hearing their
stories and the stories of other men and women in this predicament was quite
interesting, beautiful and sad. One of my acquaintances paid $5,000 and the
groom promptly disappeared. I felt very sorry for her. Then a few years ago
I met writer Loretta Paraguassu, who married, had two children, and divorced
a Brazilian. Together we had a bond. And from that, we collaborated on a screenplay." Sheldon
Schiffer is not a typical Latin name for someone who speaks both Spanish and
Portuguese and makes bilingual films. That is because Schiffer's own heritage
is quite a mix. "My mother and that side of the family immigrated from
Venezuela and Nicaragua. My father is your typical Eastern European Jewish
descendent. I have lived in a household of Spanish speakers most of my life
and I have traveled extensively to eight Latin American countries." Then
he added with a snicker, "I include the United States as one of those
countries."
The film
will include creative contributions from several Brazilians residing in Atlanta.
Three actors will play the three lead Brazilian roles: Leticia Arioli, from
the city of Florionopolis, Santa Catarina; Julia Simoes, from the city of Recife,
Pernambuco, and Flavia Silva, from the city of Cuiba, Matto Grosso. The editor
of the film is Orlando Conde Barros from the city of Maceio, Alagoas.
Schiffer
got the opportunity to make the film through some high-profile arts competitions. Nailed! and
its production proposal was among the five finalists of the 2003 Southeastern
Media Award competition of the Atlanta Film Festival and the production proposal
won a 2005 Contract for Arts Services from the City of Atlanta Bureau of
Cultural Affairs. The project has also won endorsement and more than $30,000
of in-kind equipment support from the Digital Arts and Entertainment Laboratory
of Georgia State University. The completed project will screen at 9:30
PM, Thursday August 23, 2007 at Eastside Lounge (485 Flat Shoals Ave
SE Atlanta, GA 30316, phone: 404-521-9666).
If the name
sounds familiar, Schiffer has produced and distributed several other films.
Most recently, the award winning film Comeuppance has screened at
three Atlanta film festivals in 2003 (Decatur, Black Independent, Spaghetti
Junction) and aired on nation cable television on the Black Family Channel
in December 2005. His documentary, Memories of Tata aired several
times throughout the 1990s on the nationally broadcast PBS program, Point of
View. And
his documentary, The Rise and Fall of Black Velvet Flag has appeared
in several film festivals. The Cinema Guild distributes his films to
the academic market.
