AH-HOS-TEEND (Retired)
The Story The Style Status Bios
POST PRODUCTION PROGRESS FILES
The Story
Where do the spirits go when they are no longer remembered? And who
shepherds them back to their native land?
Retired is a short film that employs the conceit of a world where gods
still live and die among men to explore questions of individual belief
and cultural identity as well as the mystery and meaning of faith. The
script is written by award winning Cherokee animator Chris Kientz and
Navajo filmmaker Shonie De Larosa.
The story is about two men, who during the course of the film, are
revealed to be much more than they initially seem. First there is
Nameless, a young Native American man obviously lost and searching to
understand who he is, as well as remember his name and his purpose in
living.
This quest to find out who he is begins at the Glittering World Casino,
where he is strangely compelled to play the slots. He hits the jackpot,
but fails to attain the revelation he is seeking. He’s thrown
out
of the casino and taken to the Running Indian truck stop nearby.
There he meets Pete, who appears to be little more than an old man as
lost as Nameless. But Pete is hardly lost, and more importantly, he
knows the true nature of what Nameless is, and what he is really
searching for. By the end of the film both Nameless and Pete
find
what they are looking for in the strangest of places.
The Style
Retired will be directed by Chris Kientz and Shonie Delarosa and will
be display a cutting-edge style that combines classic story telling
with state of the art visual FX. Post production effects and
digital color correction will produce a world for retired that allows
the film to communicate in a visual way that would not be
possible. The running time of the film will be 26:40.
Taking advantage of cost reductions for FX and animation and with a
combined FX experience of over 20 years, the crew of Retired will be
able to create a unique and evocative visual experience while
minimizing expense
Status of Project
Currently Retired is in post-production with completed storyboards and
temp reel. In addition music rights have been negotiated and funding
and in-kind funding has been made available. The cast and crew are
assembled and locations have been locked. All of the camera/lighting
and post-production equipment is available and ready for use. Filming
was concluded in June with funding available to film the live
plates necessary for the rest of the film.
Bios
Chris Kientz
(writer/director) is the co-director and co-writer of Raven Tales, the
first animated film to be awarded a National Geographic All Roads film
Project grant. The short has gone on to win 22 awards and has been
licensed for broadcast as a 26 episode television series in Canada,
Japan, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. After winning the Best
Native Film Award at the Santa Fe Film Festival, Kietnz and Raven Tales
co-director Simon James donated $10,000 to establish a grant for
emerging Native American filmmakers at the Media Rights Foundation in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
For the past ten years Chris Kientz has worked as an independent
producer and animator developing multimedia projects for commercial
clients in both Canada and the United States. He has
scripted,
produced and directed award winning video, animation and interactive
media. Chris has also worked as an FX supervisor for television
productions including Stargate SGI, X Files and Harsh Realm.
Chris Kientz is of Cherokee/Nodric extraction and growing up among the
Navajo, Zuni and Hopi people of New Mexico gave him a great respect for
North American Aboriginal Art and Culture.
Shonie De La
Rosa
(writer/director) is an award winning Navajo (Native American Indian)
filmmaker living in Kayenta, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. He has shown
his films all over Europe and the United States. Shonie continues to
push the boundaries of typical Native American Film Making with
unorthodox techniques in script writing, photography, and subject
matter. Shonie has also worked on various projects with other
filmmakers, directors and producers. He has also collaborated with many
Native American music artists producing and directing many music videos.
Shonie also teamed up with Sundance participant and Director Larry
Blackhorse Lowe of Blackhorse Films in the summer of 2004 as Production
Manager for the film “The Fifth World” which
screened at
the Sundance Film Festival in 2005.
In January 2007, Shonie, along with his wife Andee released their first
full feature film “Mile Post 398”. The film has
been
screened all over the Navajo Nation and 4 Corners region and numerous
film festivals across the Nation with rave reviews and five awards.
Aaron Berger
(FX
coordinator) was born in Albuquerque, and currently lives and works in
Las Cruces, NM. He has produced animated shorts and worked on several
film projects within New Mexico. He has experience with
filming,
writing, directing, post production and editing. Notable
highlights include his work on Raven Tales as an animator, creating the
animated short Coyote and the Flea featured in the 2005 Santa Fe Film
Festival and post production visual effects work for the New Mexico
Governor Cup Winner A Day In Heaven.
Mark
Vasconcellos
(camera/crew/producer) is currently the lead instructor for digital
camera/grip at CMT at the Dona Ana Community College. As an Actor/Award
winning indie filmmaker, Mark Vasconcellos earned a B.A. in
Film/Television production from San Jose State University and quickly
found work as a T.V. segment director/videographer. Recently he has
worked as a producer/cameraman on a number of television and feature
film productions and has won awards with his first 16mm short film,
which is still in the film festival circuit. His low budget
feature, Triple Threat recently secured worldwide distribution with
Echelon Entertainment of Los Angeles.