First Date

Throwback Sundays this week presents a controversial short film that premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Its called First Date, and it tells the story of a gay ex-con frantically attempting to score with a young teen (Tian Wei) while eluding his parole officer.

Named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2006, Gary Huggins made the 20 minute film over a period of a year and a half and says he was inspired by “the Dardenne brothers, early Altman and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Last Resort.” He shot the film on the Panasonic DVX100 and, after learning Final Cut Pro, edited the film on an iMac.

Here is some reaction to the controversial short:

FILMMAKER MAGAZINE:
"...First Date is both disturbing and nonjudgmental as it wires the viewer directly into its protagonists agitated psyche. In his screen acting debut, (Santiago) Vasquez creates an indelible, perversely compelling character unlike anyone youve seen in movies."

GREENCINE DAILY:
"The film has everything going against it, yet director Gary Huggins miraculously make it work thanks, in no small part, to the naturalistic performance of Santiago Vasquez."

Here is First Date below:

FIRST DATE

FIRST DATE MySpace Video