Kyle Ford of Grand Portage was cinematographer and director of photography on the award-winning Forward. Side. Close!
Kyle Ford invites the community to the local debut of Forward. Side. Close! —an independent film on which he served as cinematographer and director of photography. The movie, filmed on location at a castle in Austria, has been accepted at a number of film festivals across the country and won honors at the prestigious Hollywood Film Festival. And, by looking at the film trailer, it is beautifully shot and wonderfully entertaining.
The movie (Vor. Seit. Schluss! in German) tells the story of Dr. Reinhard Nagl (Heinz Trixner), a cynical old gentleman who just wants to live out his days as a recluse in his extravagant Austrian castle. The only people around him are his staff—his maid Eva- Maria Heller (Sandra Lipp) and servant Maximilian Neumann (Julius Kuhn).
His cantankerous routine is upset with the appearance of his old friend Lorenz Zweig (Christian Futterknecht), who works to bring laughter and even an old love, Magdalena, (Uschi Glas) back into Reinhard’s life.
“I’m excited for everyone to see it,” said Ford, reassuring movie goers that after just a few moments the English subtitles will be forgotten as the message of the German-speaking actors comes through. “Everyone who has been to a screening says it is the nicest movie they have seen in a long time,” he added.
“It’s the cast that really make the movie,” said Ford, noting what a pleasure it was to work with them, all accomplished performers in Europe.
Likewise, Ford said he enjoyed working with the rest of the crew and Writer/ Director Alexander Peter Lercher, who he met in college. They worked together on a film while in school and when Lercher had the funding and actors lined up for Vor. Seit. Schluss! he called Ford, asking him to be the cinematographer.
Amazingly, after about a month of preparation at the mansion of Executive Producer Heinrich von Hanau, the film was shot there in just 15 days.
Since its completion, Lercher and Ford have been promoting the film and have been accepted at film festivals such as the Hollywood Film Festival, which receives 3,000 submissions each year. Of those, 22 films are selected. Forward. Side. Close! received awards for best narrative film and Lercher received the emerging filmmaker award.
It is an honor to just have a film selected for a festival and Forward. Side. Close! has earned that recognition several times over as an official selection by the Burbank Film Festival, Biberacher Filmfestspiele, Bali International Film Festival, Savannah Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.
Ford said although he is sorry that promoting the film takes him away from his family on the North Shore, it is interesting to take part in the walk on the Red Carpet at film festivals. He has been able to meet some celebrities and most importantly, make contacts for future work in the film industry.
Seeing just the teaser for Forward. Side. Close! it is evident that Ford has an eye for creating compelling scenes and the ability to tell a story visually.
Community members can see for themselves at the screening at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Wednesday, December 9. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the screening begins at 7:15 p.m.
Ford will be available for questions about the film and working as a cinematographer, after the showing.
There will be light refreshments in the lobby. Donations will be accepted to cover the cost of the screening.
To see a preview of Forward. Side. Close! watch the movie trailer at www.vss-movie.com/
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