Lecturer’s feature film to premier at Venice Film Festival

Lecturer’s feature film to premier at Venice Film Festival

A film by the University of Auckland’s Dr Jake Mahaffy has been selected for the prestigious Venice Film Festival.

Twelve years in the making, the film, Free in Deed, was shot in February 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee with actors David Harewood (of Showtime’s Homeland) and Edwina Findley (of HBO’s The Wire).

Jake, a senior lecturer in Media, Film and TV says, “It is an honour for the film to screen at Venice and it helps to gain some attention for a small production.”

“Some festivals are bigger in terms of sheer size or market but Venice is very selective. We really like the programmes they curate and they make room for smaller films like ours.”

The film is set in the distinctive world of storefront churches and based on actual events. Free in Deed depicts one man’s attempts to perform a miracle. When a single mother brings her young boy to church for healing, the lonely Pentecostal minister is forced to confront the seemingly incurable illness of the child, and his own demons as well.

“I wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 2004 and have been trying to get it made since then. It’s a tough project but when producer Mike Ryan got on board things started moving a bit quicker,” explained Mahaffy.

Jake Mahaffy’s Free in Deed will screen in the Orizzonti Section of the festival. Orizzonti is a competitive section for films representing the ‘latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema’. Eighteen international films are screening in this section.

His previous work includes the feature Wellness, which won the 2008 SXSW Dramatic Grand Jury Prize, and many short films such as AD 1363 (Sundance, 2015) and Miracle Boy, which had its international premiere at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012. Some of his work can be seen at www.burnbarrelfilms.com

The 72nd Venice Film Festival runs from September 2 to September 12.

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