USA: Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies debut new independent film at Tribeca Film Festival
Record ID:
385105
USA: Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies debut new independent film at Tribeca Film Festival
- Title: USA: Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies debut new independent film at Tribeca Film Festival
- Date: 29th April 2009
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 24, 2009) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR ANDY GARCIA, SAYING: "Well, you know, I think location is an important element of this, of the inherent storytelling of the movie, and there's a very specific culture that's there, and there's a very specific family that lives in that culture, you know. He is a self described 'clamdigger,' which are people that are actually born and bred on City Island, and the Mussel suckers are people that have actually come in, sort of taken a new homestead there, but they're not born and bred so." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS JULIANA MARGUILES, SAYING: "Well, my experience, I should just say, for the record, of working on independent films that don't have a lot of money, is it's actually much more of a creative process, and it's much more actor-friendly. When you work on a movie that has a big budget, there's not a lot of say for the creative process. This was, from the beginning to the end, a labor of love, and we were all there together, and we were all in it, and there's nothing like it." (SOUNDBITE) (English) "CITY ISLAND" DIRECTOR RAYMOND DE FELITTA, SAYING: "Yeah, it's obviously a really hard time in the world, not just in showbiz, although, if you make films, you kind of think that's the world, but yeah, on the other hand, I feel like what we made is something that is accessible, and really funny, and ultimately very moving to people. I've screened the movie a lot, and I haven't premiered it yet, but I've watched it with audiences and I feel like, this is something that, there's going to be an audience for it because we all understand the basic problems of family, and, frankly, we all understand what telling lies is about and how hard it is to live with one." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIANNA MARGULIES, SAYING: "He would just roll the camera and say 'improv,' and next thing you know, we're all fighting, and it was just unbelievable, but the one thing he always said was 'eat,' do not be the actors that are at a dinner table and not eating, I can't stand it, so 'eat, my family would eat,' so we would all be like, eating, things would start coming up, and it was a really wonderful acting experience for me."
- Embargoed: 14th May 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA2HRLEJ1A9HQPHRUSN62MLSEK2
- Story Text: Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies play an Italian-American couple keeping secrets from each other in "City Island," an independent feature film set in a little known fishing village in the Bronx borough of New York City.
STORY Independent film "City Island" stars Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies as an Italian-American couple from New York whose family is tested with a littany of secrets.
"City Island" is set in a little known neighborhood of the same name in the Bronx Borough of New York City, and it is known for its quant resemblance to a New England fishing village.
"Well, you know, I think location is an important element of this, of the inherent storytelling of the movie," says actor Andy Garcia.
"There's a very specific culture that's there, and there's a very specific family that lives in that culture, you know."
The character Garcia plays is a prison guard who has lived on City Island his whole life, and he says the culture of the island is very much influenced by a territorial sense among its residents.
"He is a self described 'clamdigger,' which are people that are actually born and bred on City Island," says Garcia of his character, "and the Mussel suckers are people that have actually come in, sort of taken a new homestead there, but they're not born and bred there."
The premise behind "City Island" rests on the power of secrets upon a close-knit family. Garcia's character, Vince Rizzo, hides from his wife (Margulies) the fact that a former prison inmate he has brought to live in their home is his long-lost son with another woman. The couple's daughter is believed to be a successful college student in New York, but in fact, has dropped out and is working as an exotic dancer. Margulies' character suspects her husband of cheating on her, when in reality he is fulfilling a hidden dream by attending acting classes in Manhattan.
"City Island" is an independent film that was made on a very low budget, something Julianna Margulies appreciates because of the lack of studio influence that usually comes with any blockbuster, Hollywood fare.
"When you work on a movie that has a big budget, there's not a lot of say for the creative process," says Julianna Margulies.
"This was, from the beginning to the end, a labor of love, and we were all there together, and we were all in it, and there's nothing like it."
Margulies enjoyed working with director Raymond De Felitta, whose Italian-American background came out during the filming process, particularly during scenes focused around the dinner table.
"The one thing he always said was 'eat,' do not be the actors that are at a dinner table and not eating, I can't stand it, so 'eat, my family would eat,' so we would all be like, eating, things would start coming up, and it was a really wonderful acting experience for me," says Margulies, on working with De Felitta.
The film debuts at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, an appropriate venue given the film was shot entirely in New York City, and was benefitted by the lucrative tax rebates the city had to offer. Fe Litta hopes that "City Island" will sell to a distributor despite the current economic climate, and believes that there is a wide audience for his film.
"This is something that, there's going to be an audience for it because we all understand the basic problems of family," says De Felitta.
"We all understand what telling lies is about and how hard it is to live with one."
"City Island" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 26. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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