Жереми О.Харрис болон найруулагч Николас Кларк, Дилан Фредерик нарын хамтын бүтээл болох “American Theater” баримтат киноны трейлер цацагдлаа.
2025 оны Slamdance наадмын баримтат киноны төрөлд Гран при хүртсэн “American Theater” бүтээл нь Жоржиа мужийн театрын найруулагч асан Брайан Клаудусын түүхийг өгүүлнэ. 2019 онд арьс өнгөөр ялгаварлан гадуурхсан, ёс зүйгүй авирласан гэх зэрэг олон төрлийн шүүмжлэлд өртөж, салбараасаа хасагдсан Клаудус энэхүү киногоор дамжуулан театрын урлагт эргэн ирэхийг зорьж буй юм. Тэрээр MAGA (Make America Great Again) үзэл баримтлалтай жүжигчдийн хамт Артур Миллерийн “The Crucible” жүжгээс сэдэвлэсэн шинэ бүтээлээ туурвихаар төлөвлөж байна.
Энэхүү киноны гүйцэтгэх продюсероор ажилласан Жереми О.Харрис үзэгчдийг нийгмийн эмзэг сэдвийг хөндсөн энэхүү бүтээлийг сонирхохыг уриалжээ. Найруулагчдын хувьд тус бүтээл нь улс төрийн хурц үзэл баримтлалтай, нийгмээс тусгаарлагдсан хүмүүсийг ашиглан өөрийн нэр хүндийг сэргээхийг оролдож буй хувь хүнийг харуулахыг зорьсон байна.
“American Theater” баримтат кино нь одоогоор зарим кино театруудаар гарч эхэлсэн бөгөөд удахгүй Letterboxd Video Store платформд байрших юм. Түүнчлэн Antenna Releasing-ийн зохион байгуулж буй аялан тоглолтын хүрээнд АНУ-ын хэд хэдэн хотын кино театруудад нэмэлт үзвэрүүд товлогджээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Can a conservative “canceled” theater director rise from the ashes of his own ruination — and in this climate? That’s one of the questions top of mind for filmmakers Nicholas Clark and Dylan Frederick, whose provocative, Christopher Guest-style nonfiction film “American Theater” (except it’s a docu-, not mockumentary) is rolling out in select theaters now. A Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner for documentary in 2025, the film is also executive-produced by Jeremy O. Harris.
“American Theater” follows Brian Clowdus — openly gay, conservative, and formerly of the Serenbe Playhouse in Georgia, who was taken down in 2019 over allegations of racism, misconduct, unsafe working conditions, and a gamut of other accusations. Clark and Frederick follow Clowdus, now a MAGA Republican, and a troupe of other conservative actors to an abandoned cabin in middle-of-nowhere Georgia where Clowdus plots the ultimate revenge: a community musical theater retelling of, of course, the 1692 Salem witch trials, riffing on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” (which, published in 1953, isn’t yet in the public domain).
“This film was about a really fucked-up figure and a person with really fucked-up politics,” Harris told IndieWire over the phone from Copenhagen, where the Tony nominee is rehearsing a new play. “When you have unwelcoming and fucked-up politics, or a person who has unwelcoming, fucked-up politics at the center of the art you’re making, it can feel like potentially you’re endorsing their politics or celebrating them, especially because we don’t live in times that are deeply discursive or critical. At least having my name in the headline should be an invitation to certain people that maybe would’ve been like, ‘I’m not watching that,’ that maybe this is something for them.”
In taking on someone who was once a formidable presence in the Southern regional theater space, Harris said the filmmakers saw “this opportunity to embed themselves in the company for his comeback show. They realized there was a chance to look at the type of fringe character that utilized MAGA for the grifting machine that it is. MAGA is a magnet for a lot of displaced people, and theater has so many displaced people. Even thinking about the fact that one of the most famous people that stormed the Capitol was in the regional production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ meant that there were ways in which the theater community wasn’t looking at some of the foxes among the lambs in our own community. This gave them the opportunity to be those foxes, or not even foxes, but to be flies on the wall of this maker who was exploiting a lot of displaced people.”
A recent Cobble Hill Cinemas screening of “American Theater” was moderated by journalist Ludwig Hurtado. Next up, the film will be available to rent on the Letterboxd Video Store, so locally driven screenings also aim to bring audiences to that platform.
“One of the things that’s very sad to me is that amongst the distributors, the ones that one would think have the most bandwidth and power to really uplift these microbudget filmmakers who are truly keeping the torch burning for that independent American brio that put American independent cinema on the map and right next to so many other stalwarts of world cinema, a lot of them are being, I think, more cautious about who they’re distributing,” Harris said. “Distribution costs are so large right now that I think that they don’t really know what to do with movies so small. And so Letterboxd has become this really great outlet because there’s such a vibrant community there who are just excited to see films and excited to learn that filmmakers who maybe are in circumstances similar to their own as movie watchers are making films.”
In a separate statement, Frederick said, “The film takes place in 2021, when Trump was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison, his political future was uncertain, and conservatives were batching DeSantis ‘24 tank tops. Democrats just had the best night of their lives in the midterms, and MAGA folks may find themselves at a low point, but it’s useful to remember that we’ve actually been here before.”
Clark added, “There was a moment when many people assumed the Trump era had come to an end. ‘American Theater’ tells a story of the Trump supporters during that time who were dedicated to figuring out what would come next. In this instance, their idea was an allegorical cancel culture musical about the Salem witch trials. It did not go anywhere near as planned, and our movie tells that story. But ultimately, everything that has happened to us as a nation ever since has only recontextualized what we saw within this brief moment in time.”
Watch the trailer for “American Theater” below, and see a list of upcoming screenings on a nationwide tour via Antenna Releasing.
November 11 | Plaza Theatre | Atlanta, GA
November 12, 14, 15, 16 | Low Cinema | Ridgewood, NY
November 12 | Prytania Theater | New Orleans, LA
November 19 | Cinema Salem | Salem, MA
November 22 | Smodcastle Cinemas | Atlantic Highlands, NJ
November 23 | Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture | Chicago, IL
November 30 | The Heights | St. Paul, MN
