A Plea From Two Filmmakers

To the Editor:

Imagine our elation when we heard that our film, De-Ploy, was accepted to the Cannes Short Film Corner! The festival, which takes place this year from May 11 to 22, will showcase some of the best short and feature-length films from around the world, and we are proud to have our short, which was produced and filmed here in Newtown, being shown at the festival.

Our film opens with a shot from the rubble of 9/11, and goes on to tell the story of a man who enlisted in the US army as a result of that fateful day. With the recent death of Bin Laden, our collective consciousness has once again been reminded of how the events of 9/11 affected us both personally and as a nation.

Our film explores this theme through the eyes of a young man who is only one day away from being deployed for Afghanistan. Behind the idyllic façade of the suburban home where he was raised, we are able to glimpse into one man’s resolve to go to war.

With the festival only days away, and student loans continuing the hole in our pockets, we still seek outside help to make this trip possible. Our goal is to tell future stories from our community, and the opportunities to form partnerships in Cannes would be invaluable in helping us to achieve this.

We encourage any supporters of independent film from the community, who would like to make a contribution, to donate via paypal.com to quietlycrowded@gmail.com, or to e-mail us for more information. We will be eternally grateful for any contributions, and any donations exceeding $10 will receive a DVD of the film.

Since at least one of us should be able to make the trip, in any case, expect a follow-up article to be featured in The Newtown Bee soon, with an insider account and exclusive pictures from the festival.

Sincerely,

David Haladjian

Dylan DeSimone

7 Crows Nest Lane, Sandy Hook                                     May 4, 2011