Festival Prize |
| Best Documentary |
Jury Prize |
| Best Documentary |
Tony Zierra magnificently puts to screen the real story of four roommates trying to make a name for themselves in Hollywood. While one maybe "destined" for greatness, others struggle through their potential - that may never surface This is a genuine movie, featuring a world within Hollywood we all wish to have an inside look at.
10 years ago I googled Wes Bentley, the character with the camera in American Beauty, and came across a website for a film called Carving Out Our Name, a documentary about four actors and an aspiring director living in a house they called "Masselin". In the late 90's, Tony Zierra decided to start filming his four roommates as they tried to make it in Hollywood.
A documentary about 4 people wanting to make it in Hollywood. This is a goal for a lot of people, and not everyone can make it happen.
This film was ten years in the making and in fact, it was trashed by Tony Zierra (the producer) before he went back to the drawing board and sorted through some 200 hours of film to ultimately have this film. It's a one of a kind documentary that gives us a very raw and heartbreaking view into the workings of the film industry and what can happen when dreams do come true.
Now I get why the slogan for this documentary is "Are You Ready?".
This unflinchingly honest documentary about four young up-and-coming actors sharing a house with the young filmmaker captures the exuberant whirl of unexpected success, the soul-destroying weight of persistent defeat, the constant pressure of being only as good as your next role, and the difficulty of portraying the unvarnished truth about any career in Hollywood. It runs the gamut from funny to excruciatingly painful, and the truth on display is sometimes hard to watch precisely because it is so searing.
Now I get why the slogan for this documentary is "Are You Ready?".
I won't go into any specific details (because honestly, comments before me have done that wonderfully) but I do have to say this is the MUST SEE movie of the year, hell of many years.I am a movie lover, (to the tune of owning over a thousand DVD's of every variety and genre) and so many movies these days are afraid to be as honest as this one.
