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The Redford Center, one of the few U.S.-based nonprofits dedicated solely to environmental impact filmmaking, has selected 13 films to receive funding, marking a significant expansion of the organization’s grants program with an increase in the number of projects and funding amount.

The international cohort of films, selected for “high impact potential and unique solutions-based themes,” will each receive $25k to support the completion of the projects and to advance their impact efforts and goals.

The Redford Center received more than 500 applications from 67 countries, marking the most expansive and globally diverse open call in the org’s history, demonstrating, it said, the overwhelming presence of impact-driven independent films and the striking gap of funding and support currently offered by the film industry.

The Center was established in direct response to a lack of support available and is a central pillar of work that the Redford Center’s late...

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Amid a climate crisis that is seeing record heat temperatures broken around the globe, The Redford Center has announced the 12 filmmaking teams who are winners of its Environmental Impact Film grants for 2022-2023. The center — the environmental media nonprofit founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his late son James Redford — provides funding biannually to a select group of cinematic storytellers who focus on environmental justice, intersectional themes and solutions that improve the health of the planet.

“We view these artists as translators: humanizing the issues we so urgently need to address and giving voice to the frontline activists who are continually overlooked by the mainstream film and environmental sectors and who, quite frankly, are leading us out of the problem,” Jill Tidman, executive director of The Redford Center, tells The Hollywood Reporter of the winning teams, noting that the center is one of...

Remember when people read novels? That might seem like an inane statement to those seeking out this review or the story of Amy Tan, but it’s hard to remember the last time a novel dominated the conversation outside the now seemingly narrowed world of people who regularly read fiction. The documentary “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir” waxes nostalgic for that time, immersing us in the author’s meteoric success with “The Joy Luck Club” in 1989 as a blockbuster work of fiction, while also showing how that level of success and her self-informed pressure to deliver a massive followup, plagued her on a personal level. As the final film from James Redford (son of Robert Redford), this PBS “American Masters” entry is a riveting portrait of the artist, exceptionally crafted and entertaining enough even for those unfamiliar with Tan’s groundbreaking contributions to Asian American literature.

For one, Amy Tan is just cool.

Long before it was fashionable to embrace environmental causes, Robert Redford was fighting the good fight, using his celebrity status to bring attention to causes ranging from keeping power plants out of Southeastern Utah to the use of “clean energy” to combat carbon pollution. He’s been on the board of the National Resources Defense Council for decades; helped facilitate a “greenhouse glasnost” by inviting the Soviet Academy of Sciences to an environmental summit at the Sundance Institute, the independent-filmmaking haven he established in 1981; and has lent his name (and...

Novelist Amy Tan’s centrality to the history of Asian American representation in literature and on-screen cannot be overstated. And the late James Redford’s pleasant, sympathetic biographical documentary, “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir” is careful to avoid any such overstatement: It presents Tan’s fascinating life story from an intimate perspective, which is engaging and compelling on the level of personal reminiscence, but perhaps inevitably falls short in the broader assessment of her cultural impact. It’s an approach that seems to emanate from the subject herself: Whatever self-regard might be implied by the term “memoir” is swiftly dispelled by its “unintended” nature.

This humility makes the film both endearing and a little frustrating. Tan’s genius, as several publishing and media-industry interviewees assert, was in creating widely relatable fiction out of the idiosyncratic, specific details of her life. But barely explored is the contradiction that arises when despite your humble approach,...

There’s something unintentionally humorous for author Amy Tan in watching her upcoming PBS documentary “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir” — she got to see herself age over 68 years. The feature — the last completed film by director James Redford, who died in October 2020 of bile duct cancer in his liver — tries to create a narrative while simultaneously examining Tan’s experience of becoming a writer. “It’s uncomfortable, at times, but it seems like the best way to make sense of my life,” she said Thursday during PBS’ panel at the TCA Winter Press Tour.

From an early age Tan was a storyteller, telling tales and illustrating them, starting at the age of six. But in all that time she never thought she’d be a writer because there wasn’t a model, especially not an Asian-American woman. “It wasn’t until I was a business writer…that I thought to do...

As with many of our seminal writers, those reading this review may feel that they already know Amy Tan a little bit. From her breakout novel The Joy Luck Club to her more recent memoir Where the Past Begins: A Writer’s Memoir, Tan has used her art as an outlet for her own past and that of her family’s to great, lasting effect. And yet, the new documentary Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir captures something new in its subject. Directed by James Redford, Tan herself is front and center for most of the film, talking through the timeline of her life, from her difficult childhood to a specularly successful literary career.

The talking heads are complimented nicely by a cavalcade of old photos and some well-placed, understated animation. Choice clips from some of Tan’s more recent public speaking appearances drive the narrative as well. Redford moves chronologically for the most part,...

If the unexamined life is not worth living, rest assured that author Amy Tan’s life is very much the other kind. She’s already published two non-fiction books drawn from her life and experiences, and now with “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir,” she’s participating in what will be a fascinating journey for those who haven’t read those books and an enriching audio-visual accompaniment for those who have.

Like fellow Sundance debut “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It,” “Unintended Memoir” was produced for PBS’ “American Masters” series and, as such, hews to a fairly public-tv style of documentary filmmaking. Nonetheless, director James Redford (who passed away in October 2020) intuitively combines new interviews, vintage TV appearances, childhood photos and home-movie footage, and animation (by Xaviera López) to capture the experiences that brought Tan to her initial success with “The Joy Luck Club” as well as...

The late James Redford’s final film, Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, follows the Joy Luck Club author as she unpacks her legacy and lineage, contending with chronic illness, intergenerational trauma, and her relationship with her mother. Editor Jeff Boyette describes the emotionally taxing experience of editing the film after Redford’s passing and the power of Tan’s story. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Boyette: I ended up editing this film based on my long relationship with the director, Jamie Redford, […]

The post "The Whole Team Really Came Together in an Amazing Way": Editor Jeff Boyette on Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The late James Redford’s final film, Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir, follows the Joy Luck Club author as she unpacks her legacy and lineage, contending with chronic illness, intergenerational trauma, and her relationship with her mother. Editor Jeff Boyette describes the emotionally taxing experience of editing the film after Redford’s passing and the power of Tan’s story. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Boyette: I ended up editing this film based on my long relationship with the director, Jamie Redford, […]

The post "The Whole Team Really Came Together in an Amazing Way": Editor Jeff Boyette on Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The directorial debuts of actress Robin Wright and musician Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and a documentary from Edgar Wright will be among the new films screening at the largely virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance organizers announced on Tuesday.

Robin Wright’s “Land,” starring Wright, Demian Bichir and Kim Dickens and set in the Rocky Mountains, will premiere at Sundance in advance of its Feb. 12 release from Focus Features. Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” is a documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which drew 300,000 people in the summer of 1969. Edgar Wright’s “The Sparks Brothers” is about Ron and Russell Mael, the two brothers who founded the rock band Sparks.

The Sundance lineup, which was revealed in its entirety, will consist of 72 feature films, 50 shorts, four indie episodic series and 14 “new frontier” projects. The films will screen on Sundance’s online platform, with each one having a live online premiere, and also...

Robert Redford’s The Redford Center has elected both Dylan Redford and Jannat Gargi as co-chairs to its Board of Directors, the environmental nonprofit organization announced Thursday.

Dylan Redford is the son of the late James Redford, the co-founder of the organization who died at 58 last month. He joins Gargi, a co-chair since 2019 and vice president and head of documentaries for Vice Studios.

Together Redford and Gargi will lend their expertise to The Redford Center’s goal of producing impact-driven film and media in the fight for environmental justice, protection and repair.

“I am honored to be working alongside Jannat Gargi and the distinguished leaders of The Redford Center to further execute the mission set forth by my father and grandfather,” Dylan Redford said in a statement. “As a young filmmaker, my goal is to inspire the next generation of storytellers and drive the immediate action needed to protect the environment.

For the first time in its 15-year history, the environment-focused Redford Center — the nonprofit film and media center co-founded by Robert Redford and his son, the late James Redford — has rolled out a series of voting-themed films meant to spark turnout among Americans who care about planet earth.

The campaign, called #PowerTheVote, is a collection of 10 short films that talk about the importance of voting in preserving natural places and in maintaining the health of communities. They feature a diverse array of subjects, including urban bee farmers in Detroit; Black voters in Uniontown, Alabama; the founders of a plant-based meat company ...

For the first time in its 15-year history, the environment-focused Redford Center — the nonprofit film and media center co-founded by Robert Redford and his son, the late James Redford — has rolled out a series of voting-themed films meant to spark turnout among Americans who care about planet earth.

The campaign, called #PowerTheVote, is a collection of 10 short films that talk about the importance of voting in preserving natural places and in maintaining the health of communities. They feature a diverse array of subjects, including urban bee farmers in Detroit; Black voters in Uniontown, Alabama; the founders of a plant-based meat company ...

James Redford, a documentary filmmaker, environmental activist and son of Robert Redford, died Friday at 58 years old after a battle with cancer. His wife, Kyle Redford, announced his passing in a heartfelt statement via Twitter: “Jamie died today. We’re heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be […]

The post James Redford, Filmmaker Son Of Robert Redford, Dies At 58 appeared first on uInterview.

James “Jamie” Redford, a documentary filmmaker, activist and the son of actor Robert Redford, died of cancer on Oct. 16. He was 58.

His wife of 32 years, Kyle Redford, announced his death on Twitter, writing: “He lived a beautiful, impactful life and was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife of 32 years, I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done without them over the past two years.”

Jamie died today. We’re heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife of 32 yrs, I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done w/o them over the past 2yrs. pic.twitter.com/ynDN2jSZ04

— kyle redford (@kyleredford) October 16, 2020

In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune,...

The Redford family is mourning the loss of James Redford, son of actor Robert Redford. In a statement on Friday, Oct. 16 from Kyle Redford, James' wife, it was revealed that the 58-year-old died of complications caused by bile duct cancer. "We're heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed," Kyle tweeted. "As his wife of 32 yrs, I'm most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together." She continued, "I don't know what we would've done w/o them over the past 2yrs." Additionally, Robert's rep, Cindi Berger, tells E! News, "The grief is immeasurable with the loss of a child....

James Redford, documentary filmmaker, activist and the son of Robert Redford, has died of complications from bile-duct cancer, his wife Kyle Redford told The Salt Lake Tribune. James Redford died Friday at his home in Marin County, CA. He was 58.

In a Twitter post Friday, Kyle Redford wrote “Jamie died today. We’re heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife of 32 [years], I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done [without] them over the past 2 [years].”

James Redford had been diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a rare auto-immune disease affecting the liver and received two liver transplants in 1993. According to his bio on IMDb, the near-fatal ordeal inspired him to found the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness, where he produced The Kindness Of Strangers, a documentary film...

James Redford, documentary filmmaker, activist and son of Robert Redford, has died. He was 58.

The Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization co-founded by James and Robert Redford in 2005, confirmed his death on Monday. The organization tweeted it was “deeply saddened” by the news of his death and commended the filmmaker for being “a fierce advocate for the power of storytelling to drive impact on the issues that matter most.”

“Jamie was a deeply intuitive and kind collaborator. Our community of artists and colleagues grieves this loss and sends condolences to the Redford family; Jamie’s warmth, passion and generosity ...

James Redford, documentary filmmaker, activist and son of Robert Redford, has died. He was 58.

The Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization co-founded by James and Robert Redford in 2005, confirmed his death on Monday. The organization tweeted it was “deeply saddened” by the news of his death and commended the filmmaker for being “a fierce advocate for the power of storytelling to drive impact on the issues that matter most.”

“Jamie was a deeply intuitive and kind collaborator. Our community of artists and colleagues grieves this loss and sends condolences to the Redford family; Jamie’s warmth, passion and generosity ...

James Redford, filmmaker, environmental activist, philanthropist and the son of Robert Redford, has died. He was 58.

His wife, Kyle Redford, confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: “Jamie died today. We’re heartbroken. He lived a beautiful, impactful life & was loved by many. He will be deeply missed. As his wife of 32 yrs, I’m most grateful for the two spectacular children we raised together. I don’t know what we would’ve done w/o them over the past 2yrs. “

On Monday, she told The Salt Lake Tribune that Redford’s cause of death was bile-duct cancer in his liver. Redford had a history of liver disease, which returned two years ago. As he was awaiting a liver transplant last November, cancer was discovered in his bile duct.

James Redford mostly did documentary work, focusing on topics like the environment and health. His first documentary, “The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia” (2012), was inspired by his son,...

The Redford Center, the nonprofit environmental media organization co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his son James Redford, is going big on funding environmental documentaries this year. Today, it announced early-stage funding of a record 22 feature-length films committed to telling stories of environmental justice and solutions. Made through the Redford Center’s biennial Grants Program, it represents a tripling of the number of films funded in its previous cycle.

“The Redford Center mandate is really to drive mass participation in the movement towards environmental justice, protection and repair, and we are scaling up right now,” Redford Center executive director ...

The Redford Center, the nonprofit environmental media organization co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his son James Redford, is going big on funding environmental documentaries this year. Today, it announced early-stage funding of a record 22 feature-length films committed to telling stories of environmental justice and solutions. Made through the Redford Center’s biennial Grants Program, it represents a tripling of the number of films funded in its previous cycle.

“The Redford Center mandate is really to drive mass participation in the movement towards environmental justice, protection and repair, and we are scaling up right now,” Redford Center executive director ...

Activist and Academy-Award Winner Robert Redford and his son James Redford wrote a scathing opinion piece for NBC calling out “the cost of failed leadership” under President Trump.

“As the pandemic began its global march,” they write, “President Donald Trump failed to act quickly and decisively, likely increasing its toll and worsening our pain and suffering.”

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The Redfords say this as a direct result of Trump’s “failure…to embrace or even understand sound scientific consensus about what must be done to protect this nation and its people.”

And they see the ramifications of these deficiencies extending beyond even the massive impact of the coronavirus crisis. The Redfords remind us that,...

James Redford chronicles the attempt by one Us high-school to implement a ‘trauma-sensitive’ approach to education

It’s no disparagement to say that one highlight of this moving, cautiously optimistic film is the freak show staged by the problem students at its centre. “Tremble in fear at the terrible nature of this horrible, twisted little girl,” loudhails ringmaster Aron, an elvish-featured, once-withdrawn teenager who has recovered his vim to introduce fellow pupil Eternity, who has cerebral palsy. Capering and gurning in the face of adversity, their performance is an affirmation of difference; in lockstep is James Redford’s 2015 documentary, which shadows the pupils’ progress through the alternative, “trauma-sensitive” education method being roadtested at Lincoln high school in Walla Walla, Washington state.

Redford concentrates on six pupils, all of whom have chalked up a fistful of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as verbal, physical and sexual abuse and parental abandonment. Established in the late 1990s,...

Umm, now we're officially confused! Just more than one month after Robert Redford confirmed he was retiring from acting and his latest movie, The Old Man & The Gun, would be his last, the 82-year-old actor is now backtracking on his comments. "I think it was a mistake to say that I was retiring because you never know. It did feel like it was time maybe, to concentrate on another category. I shouldn’t have said that because it draws attention away from [my newest] film," Robert told People on Thursday, Sept. 20. In early August, the veteran actor told Entertainment Weekly that The Old Man & The Gun would be his final acting role. "Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this because I’ve been doing it since I was 21. I thought, 'Well, that’s enough.

Showcasing the Best in Independent and World Cinema

Thursday, October 5–15, 2017Acclaimed Festival Films From Around the World And New Offerings from Bay Area Filmmakers Highlight First Slate of Films Announced at 40th Mill Valley Film Festival

The Mill Valley Film Festival (Mvff), presented by the California Film Institute, has announced the first set of films to premiere at the 40th edition of the Festival, returning to Marin County October 5–15, 2017. The Festival will present the Bay Area premiere of many acclaimed films from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.

Additionally, Mvff will launch many acclaimed Bay Area filmmakers’ latest films as part of the Festival’s effort to showcase the many established and emerging filmmakers in the Bay Area.

Early Confirmed films from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival at MVFF40:

Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or Winner and Swedish Oscar Submission The Square...

Chicago – James “Jamie” Redford is on a righteous mission. Using the power of his latest documentary film, “Resilience,” he is informing all of society to something We All can relate to – Adverse Childhood Experiences (Ace). Why is this important? Because virtually everyone is affected by these traumas, and it may be the key to healing many mental And physical health problems, as well as some societal ills.

The film is fully titled “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope,” and it refers to the heroic efforts of pediatricians and mental health researchers who are working to stem the tide of Ace – especially in more unfavorable family, race and economic circumstances. The documentary is part of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle (Cifcc) Showcase, taking place this weekend (November 5th and 6th, 2016). For more information regarding screenings and events, click here. Jamie Redford, who has directed three documentaries...

The distribution is set for what James Redford called "Shakespeare on the High Plains." Listen Productions' dramatic documentary "Hanna Ranch," produced by Karl Kister and best-selling author Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation"), will have a limited theatrical release on May 16th followed by a digital release via Gravitas Ventures on May 23rd, 2014. Known for his hope for the future of ranch life and dubbed the "eco-cowboy," Kirk Hanna believed there could exist a balance between the obvious need for land conservation, the demands of a growing urban population, and the traditional ranching way of life. When his dream of harmony and sustainability ran up against the reality of family conflict and mounting threats to the land, Hanna began to lose hope. Telling the true story of a public figure and a family man, "Hanna Ranch" examines the tragic collision of the once wild West with today's urban sprawl, in the shadow of a family quarrel.

Though the child of one of the most famous actors to have ever graced the silver screen (Robert, in case you couldn’t tell) – James Redford is forming a reputation for himself as a unique and skilled documentary maker, and his latest picture The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia is yet another commendable achievement. Ahead of the premiere – taking place on Thursday 17th October at The Prince Charles Cinema in Central London, we had the opportunity to speak to the director.

Redford discusses why dyslexia is an important subject for him to explore, his own foundation for transplant awareness – and about his forthcoming project, Toxic Hot Seat.

The post The HeyUGuys Interview: James Redford talks The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia appeared first on HeyUGuys.

At 10, Dylan Redford, grandson of Robert, could barely read or write. His story features in a revealing and touching documentary about the condition made by his father, James

On the face of it, Dylan Redford has everything going for him – he is a handsome, intelligent and artistic 22-year-old who happens to be the grandson of Robert Redford. But he is also severely dyslexic and, at the age of 10, could barely read or write.

At school in Marin County, California, he found it impossible to use the lockers. The combination of remembering a sequence of numbers and then twisting the padlock dial in the right direction proved difficult to master. "It was just all bad," says Dylan. "I had to ask my friends to do it for me."

Dylan's experiences with dyslexia are depicted in a new documentary, The Big Picture, directed by Dylan's father, James. After watching his "intellectually curious...

HBO will debut a series of documentaries in the fall, including Alec Baldwin and James Toback's "Seduced and Abandoned," Whoopi Goldberg's portrait of pioneering performer Moms Mabley, and a Stephen Sondheim profile featuring the work of director Todd Haynes and others. The documentaries will come from a range of filmmakers including James Lapine, Sean and Andrea Fine, Cynthia Wade, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, James Redford and Marta Cunningham. The first film, Cunningham's "Valentine Road," debuts Oct. 7, and at least one film will premiere on each of the next nine...

For anyone who sloughs over dyslexia as an imagined problem that overprotective parents use to give their kids more time on tests, watch HBO's "The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia" Monday, Oct. 29.

It's far from a perfect documentary, but it proves that dyslexia can be seen. Imaging shows a dyslexic's brain patterns are different.

Successful people, including British entrepreneur Richard Branson, American businessman Charles Schwab and California politician Gavin Newsom, are dyslexics.

Dyslexics explain how they must spend considerably more time reading materials others would find basic, but nothing is basic when word patterns are random.

"I wish I could have seen this film when my son was functionally illiterate and I had nowhere to turn," documentarian James Redford, son of Robert, tells Zap2it.

James features his son, Dylan, in it, but the film does not explain that.

"As a director, I chose to let them talk," Redford says. "It's...

HBO documentaries ramp up for early fall and feature an American political dynasty, divorce, dyslexia and more. HBO Documentary Films released the second half of 2012 schedule will include an in-depth portrait of Ethel Kennedy by her daughter, to Rosie O.Donnell.s Don't Divorce Me! Kids' Rules for Parents on Divorce, to a moving look at dyslexia from James Redford, HBO showcases works by top directors who tackle thought-provoking topics. From HBO Don.T Divorce Me! Kids. Rules For Parents On Divorce (Sept. 20) spotlights children ranging in age from five to ten who have met the confusing, often-painful challenge oftheir parents. divorce. Combining candid interviews, drawings, songs and photos, this insightful film gives kids a chance to share poignant stories...

As noted in the roundup of trailers for the films competing at Sundance, these collections can be a pretty cumbersome load. So I've split the whole bunch into two batches. Again, the trailers for Competition films are here.

New Frontier

Denis Côté's Bestiaire

Terence Nance's An Oversimplification of Her Beauty

Weston Currie's The Perception of Moving Targets

Eve Sussman's whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir

Next <=>

Destin Daniel Cretton's I Am Not a Hipster

David and Nathan Zellner's Kid-Thing

Carrie Preston's That What She Said

Laurence Thrush's Pursuit of Loneliness

Park City At Midnight

Don Coscarelli's John Dies at the End

Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace's Shut Up and Play the Hits

Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie

Premieres

Rodrigo Cortés's Red Lights

Documentary Premieres

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders's About Face

James Redford's The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia

Mark Kitchell...

Three veteran independent distributors have merged their efforts to form Freestyle Releasing Llc., an independent marketing and domestic distribution company. Susan Jackson will merge the theatrical distribution arm of her company Turtles Crossing with Mark Brode's theatrical distribution and consulting company Innovation Film Group and the theatrical distribution arm of Mike Doban's Arcangelo Entertainment. The company's first release will be Motion Picture Corp. of America's Stephen King's Riding the Bullet from director Mick Garris and starring Jonathan Jackson, David Arquette, Barbara Hershey and Cliff Robertson. The film is scheduled to bow Oct. 8 on 200 screens. On Oct. 15, the Los Angeles-based company will release Spin, James Redford's directorial debut, starring Stanley Tucci and Dana Delany.

Turtle Crossings' Spin, James Redford's feature directorial debut, will be released theatrically in October by the Innovation Film Group, Turtle Crossing CEO Susan Jackson said. The film, a coming-of-age tale set in the 1950s, stars Ryan Merriman, Paula Garces, Ruben Blades and Stanley Tucci. The film, which played the Los Angeles International Film Festival and the Mill Vally Film Festival, is based on the novel Sping, by Donald Everett Axinn, who produced the project along with Elaine M. Rogers.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. -- Writer-director James Redford's new film, which had its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival, will undoubtedly attract attention because of the director's famous surname -- he's Robert's son -- but this wan coming-of-age narrative set in 1950s Tucson, Ariz., isn't likely to resonate with audiences. The film contains several flaws in the plotting, and young actor Ryan Merriman, in his first lead role, is a good-looking kid, but he doesn't possess enough screen presence to jolt the movie out of its torpor.

Based on a novel by Donald Everett Axinn (also the movie's producer), "Spin" is the story of Eddie (Merriman), a young boy whose father and mother have been killed in a plane crash. (His father was the pilot.) Eddie is now under the care of his uncle, Frank Stanley Tucci), also a pilot. Frank can't handle the responsibility and takes a long-term job abroad, leaving Eddie in the care of his ranch worker Ernesto (Ruben Blades) and his Anglo wife, Margaret (Dana Delaney). When Frank returns 10 years later, he offers to teach Eddie to fly, and Eddie has to renegotiate his relationships with his three fathers: Ernesto, Frank and his dead birth father. Eddie also courts his on-again/off-again Latina girlfriend, Francesca (Paula Garces).

Redford seems to possess a lackadaisical attitude toward basic storytelling. It takes too long for the audience to realize that Ernesto and Margaret are married (at first it seems that Margaret lives next door), and we assume Ernesto is a gardener when we first see him. (He's raking the leaves next to the driveway.) Margaret quashes Eddie's plans to work the ranch by saying, "You have to love the ranch to work it." And we wonder, what ranch? All we've seen is a hangar, an airstrip and a couple of pigs.

Some fellow jocks at school hurl some racist remarks at Eddie, and we figure it's because he's being raised by Ernesto. Later we find out Eddie is half-Latino. Merriman looks pretty waspy, and except for a too-brief shot of his mother in the plane crash at the film's beginning, there's no other clue she was Latina. Eddie's rival for Francesca, Brad (newcomer Rich Montague, who gives the best performance in the movie), encounters Francesca's wastrel father and thinks he's a jerk. We're meant to take this as racist or classist or something, but her father is a jerk -- a rather despicable one, as we learn in the very next scene.

Then when Frank tells Eddie, "You're just like your father. You're going to make the same mistakes," we pray the film doesn't mean that literally, but it does, and we've guessed the ending about an hour before it arrives.

Cinematographer Paul Ryan lets us know it's a period film by overlaying everything with sepia tones, though there are some wonderful shots of the Arizona desert. There's nothing objectionable in this film, and that's part of its problem. There's no urgency or passion, and it all remains rather bland and pallid.

"Spin" is no plane wreck, but it never really flies, either.

SPIN

Spin Prods.

Credits:

Screenwriter-director: James Redford

Producers: Donald Everett Axinn, Elaine Rogers

Director of photography: Paul Ryan

Production designer: Patti Podesta

Music: Todd Boekelheide

Costume designer: Alexis Smith

Editor: Nicholas C. Smith

Cast:

Eddie: Ryan Merriman

Frank: Stanley Tucci

Margaret: Dana Delaney

Ernesto: Ruben Blades

Francesca: Paula Garces

Brad: Rich Montague

Running time -- 114 minutes

No MPAA rating...