Brfref ememumters w[th ssrne tlYC-made ffrhsms mrn t$re rosterinfo;.</p><p> BY II{ICEIAEL GILTZ r'acle GUARANTEED TG LEAVE YOU BUG-EYED ': !\ .tlrcn Isabelia Rossellini sfiirrcd 'I " in David l-r:rich's defining 1986 r: ,: clasrr( ,ll\- \ei\ct.'it seemed like one of tlre wor i,I ' !ll .at heau (ies had been rlr aggecl irtf il per vcrse * or ltl of qtreast' ilebaucherry IJul clear Iv Lvnclt s asn t the onlv l)erijur. on the set with zt cleliglrtiirllt'sircu'ed lal(c cjn [he $i)] ld io 'Grcen Pllno," Ros5ellirli steps uF ili lhe \\-r rl t't, co-dil cctor alld star ,-,1 ;r ,sr:iies o1 rvonclerl'ullV explicit :ltl ai!ilit'taced, one-rilinute si)orts itbout the sex ii,. ('s 01 iltsects arn, 0thcr tin\ cr t,rlur cs : ,\ ana O Keele did what anv self-l especting .i ifirst-time filmmaker would do: He badgered Itis friends rrlo urrrking lur lree.</p><p> The result is "fhe New Yorhst." a droll, di- zrlogue-free lilrn starrjng O'Keefe's best friend, Alex Klimelrt, iis a restless ]'o(ulg spir it wtro vearrrs loradrentule and rather randomlyde- cides lr) conquer lh(i (listant nation of Kyr gvz stan 'i'hat s rl lre can r icl h1s apartment oI ants. cal ch Lrp o n I lis r eadir)fl and lind his w'ay to lhe arit por | - arr<l th(' g-l a nd destiny thal sur elv awaits hin) \Las il casY persua(ling Kitrnerlt to star in hls pr()iect? .{ler q irs r en r elLlctant to tlo so " says O'itecfe. rvhose frier)d, ironicallv. has since be- Cor)c ar e-\pfr I on lraslct n Eur Opean alfair s for a llriilk tanliEach slror t bcgins the sanle way: RosselLrri is seerr in a tjgllt ( lose- Llll and.'t ('Iil$crca draBonllv" (or eiil tlr\fol r11 or llv). itnd then the (,,nr{r:l I)illl\ I'lrclt iil I ove.rl ller tu a ltrof1', orr:rsizerl costume Slte blithe- lv iiitnribes theil se\uaj hilbits ur tlle rrrrst rLir*r i scienrifrcalLl appf(rilliate Ian6;ila51e -- iiiid lhen clenlonsIrates the lechlliaiu"r r)il aL qrent, hulnan- sizc'replica ol tlre ierndle (Ilos- seilini rrsurli5'plrvs the nrir: l)ccause 1lte.,'hale more turr "l had to drag him kickrng and scr eaming," says O l{eefe. 2!) "But we've been best fdends since we rvere 5 years old and grew up in New York togetherl so he really didn't have a choice " "The Neu,Yorl(ist" mixes stock footage, scenes from classics like Eisenstein's "AIex- ander Nevsk)'" and selections frorrr Rimsky- [(or sakov to tell its tale of a hero rvith a ll us- traled, slnclier-ish Napoleon comple\ And ordering I{linent around like a dictator didn't tlell) 'Therc wasn t dialoguc, explails O Keele 'IJe's not an actor So he frlt like a ligurine that rvas being nanipulated lor a 1ot of the liim It rvas incieriibiv lruslratiilg lor trirn I look at it as a rvildiy umbitrous debacle that I bareiv sal- vftg,ed aiter 10 cliflr:rent vcrsions ol Llre nrovie ancl vear s ol firne "slre suggests) The shor ts, s,hich B'er e filmed in Neu- \brk. are designecl for view- ing on iPocls, carneras and comput- ers and *'ill be available on demancl on the Sundance Channel's \!'eb site in June Watching Rossellini dressed up as a giant spider or curled up in a snail's shell or flyrng through lhe air as a bee r lrile coptrlating midflight wrth a fenlille ol'the species makes you r ealize trorv unnecessat ily clull science clarss usuall)' was A COSTUME D$IANI,A . n the short nll Saints Da1'. 1 c;uietlv sad y-oung i woman (I\lamie Gummer, dau€ihter of Nlery-l Streep) f is heading home in a bedraggled costurre the mor n- ing after Hilllos'een - and an unsattsfying one-ntglll stand Looking for directrons, she str ikes up a conversalion with a charming youil!l man (Ben jamin vall(eD sipping a cup of coffee on his l\.lanhattan stoop ll'riter Brooke Bernran came up with the idea for lhe plot the old-fashioned way: She and director \\'ill Fr ear s (son of Stephen Freal s) stole it lrom life "Will heard this gr eat stoly from our fr iend, [actor I lngan Ivlarshall-Green," says Beman, wllo is develoP- ing an expanded version of the short "Logan's birthday is Nov I . and every year on his binhday his favorite thing to do is get up early. make a cup of coffee and Bo sit on the steps and warch the walk of shame in costume ' With that seed of an idea.</p><p> Berman. who u'as living ln LA at the tinre, \'rote thefirst draft in a day- alter a little dlgging for details "There's nothing like being in the bacchanaha ol the West Hollwood Halloween parade and going,'$'ell, it's research,"'he savs,, ith New York's own Tribeca FiIm lii: I.-estival kicking off on lVedr-resday r. and running througlr May 4 (go to :, www.tribecafi lmfestival.org for more here's a look at several short movies in the citv that will be screened: .THE NEW YORKIST,: ACTING UNDER DURESSo o
