Email
Print
FeedThe 'Cowboy Suicide Club' returns to Buffalo in God's Land
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Dramatic Film at the 2010 Buffalo International Film Festival [BIFF], as well as a selection to the 2010 Starz Denver Film Festival, and 2011 Soho International Film Festival, writer/director Preston Miller's God's Land has garnered some buzz. Returning to Buffalo with the help of BIFF, our city will have a second chance to experience its fictionalized account of the Earth Flying Saucer Foundation and their time in Garland, TX, awaiting God to come retrieve them in his spaceship.
Rather than make a documentary or detailed account of the entire movement, Preston decided to base his film around one family consisting of a father who believes, a mother who does not, and a son brought along for the ride. The Hous leave their home and jobs as doctors in Taipei for the sunny plains of Texas, donning white jumpsuits and cowboy hats to 'fit in'. Biding time and wading through the media's skepticism, they wait until the preordained date God will speak give their leader, Teacher Chan, a message about coming home.
A deliberately paced, 165-minute opus that gets into the emotional backbone of a conservative family with set familial boundaries, God's Land is an intriguing tale of faith and man's belief in a higher being—no matter how laughable it may sound to outsiders. Interspersed with talk of God and faith come resonate scenes of husband and wife or father and son, reminiscing about the past and looking towards the future. There are hiccups and obstacles to overcome throughout the course of the story as each character has a crisis of faith while the general consensus of the public looms, fearing suicide will be their ultimate end, (my full review can be located here).
Shot on a shoe-string budget of $15,000, Preston Miller worked his magic and got the job done. Arriving with his film for a Q&A session at both the Friday and Saturday night screenings, the writer/director will also be giving a two-hour seminar on filmmaking Saturday afternoon. It will surely be an event any aspiring filmmakers or big cinephiles won't want to miss.
And for a little Buffalo connection, this Taiwanese contingent actually moved to Lockport, NY once the events depicted were completed.
Screenings (Sponsored by BIFF):
Thursday, August 4th (Buffalo Premiere)
7:30 PM | $6
Friday, August 5th (director in attendance)
7:30 PM | $6
Saturday, August 6th (director in attendance)
7:30 PM | $6
Sunday, August 9th
7:30 PM | $6
Filmmaking Seminar:
with director Preston Miller
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM | $15
The Screening Room Cinema
Northtown Plaza Business Center
3131 Sheridan Drive
Amherst, New York 14226
837-0376
