Louis Greatorex, Amrou Al-Kadhi and Bilal Hasana. (Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Veronika Lee Claghorn The world premiere of Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Layla, which

The post Amrou Al-Kadhi’s “Layla” Brings Audience to Its Knees first appeared on sundance.org.

Christopher M. Dukes is a seasoned actor, stuntman, and entrepreneur whose career spans over two decades in film, television, and live performance. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Dukes moved to Los Angeles in 1995 after earning a degree in Speech Communications from the University of Nebraska. Known for his versatility and physical prowess, Dukes has performed as a stunt double for Patrick Swayze and worked on major productions like G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. His recent acting credits include NCIS and the upcoming holiday film, A Heart Full of Hope. Other credits include roles in hit series such as Alias, Las Vegas, The West Wing, Transformers, Fresh Off the Boat, Very Frightening Tales, and Pump. His film work includes Angie's Cure, Twisted Date, Middleton Christmas, Reed’s Point, They Crawl Beneath, and The Christmas Chain. Beyond acting and stunt work, Dukes is the founder of Dukes Wealth Management, Inc., through which he has managed over $100 million in client assets. He is also a philanthropist, giving back to cancer and veteran organizations in honor of his family’s legacy. With training in improvisation, live performance, and business, Dukes brings a rare combination of talent, heart, and entrepreneurial spirit to every project he takes on.   @the_real_christopherdukes

How did you first get started in both acting and stunt work, and what drew you to pursue both?

My sophomore year in high school, I answered an ad in the local newspaper that said, ‘searching for talent’. Through that ad, I got my first agent and subsequently booked my first commercial for a local news station. In terms of stunt work, I went to a Six Flags live show audition in early 1997 with a friend. Out of over 200 applicants, I was one of 14 people who were chosen for a six-month contract in Texas. That show started my passion for stunt work and helped me segue into television and film work when I came back to Los Angeles in late 1997.

Can you walk us through your preparation process for a particularly challenging stunt or acting role? How do you balance the physical and emotional demands?

Typically, I will read through the entire script a couple of times to see how my character fits into the overall tone of the project. Then, I will make a choice for my character and create a backstory. If the role requires some physicality, I will make sure it’s something that the character would realistically do. For example, if I’m playing a suburban dad and I have to get into a fight, that technique might be sloppy and not as crisp as say a special ops military role might be. 

What has been the most memorable project or scene you’ve worked on, either as an actor or a stunt performer, and why does it stand out to you?

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, I had the privilege of working on the West Wing. Even though I played a small role, I was able to work with the likes of Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, and Bradley Whitford. The techniques that I learned from those actors are something that helped me on later in my career. In early 2020, I was cast opposite Eric Roberts in a horror film. We had a fairly intense restaurant scene that didn’t end well for my character. The camaraderie we had behind the scenes transferred into the scene and made our relationship even more believable.

Can you describe a time when you had to collaborate closely with directors, coordinators, or fellow actors to achieve a complex scene? What made that collaboration successful?

In early 2020, I was hired to stunt coordinate an independent film by director Dan Mirvish. The finale of the movie is a fairly complex fight sequence between four characters that takes place entirely in a beach c

What he needs the most now is to believe. 

This idea of knowing you can do it, and that you deserve to make it, is a central part of the story. Director Elan Milkes plays with these elements of character through mystical interludes that bring cosmic importance to the action on the ground. It is as if he is suggesting you need to be in harmony with the universe to reach your full potential and find your purpose in life. But how do you know when you're in sync with something so much more vast than yourself? The dramatic question in Finding the Zone is whether professional baseball is, in fact, the young man's calling. 

You can watch the trailer here: Finding the Zone

Carlos V. Gutierrez is a film and television director whose work has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Emmy Award, and has been featured on HBO and Showtime. In the commercial world, Carlos is a highly sought after director who works on national campaigns for Turbo Tax, Princess Cruises, Exxon / Mobil, Chevy and numerous others. His commercial work for clients includes a Super Bowl commercial and PSA's that have won international recognition.

In a recent interview with Carlos, here is what he had to say:

You started your media career in advertising and won awards in that career. How did you get into advertising?

CARLOS: I was studying to be a doctor and just had one of those epiphanies where you realize you’re meant for something else. I promised my parents I would have a job before graduating from undergrad and found advertising as a great way to create and learn how productions are put together.

How was your experience studying at NYU and how did you go about making your first short films?

CARLOS: I really think film school is a personal experience (especially at the grad level). It’s what you make of it and if you’re willing to subscribe to the fact the first year is a boot camp. The staff and professors want you to vomit out all your inspirations and ideas so that you can start to develop your style so by the time you hit second year your confidence about who you are as a director grows. Not to mention I had Spike Lee mentoring me and I have to say he was instrumental in shaping me into a professional filmmaker. Once I won a few awards, my confidence really went up and I started to feel I could do this, that’s where the school and the staff are critical into helping you understand what it takes to be a professional filmmaker. 

How has your advertising career and your background influenced your filmmaking?

CARLOS: My background as a Cuban American filmmaker started with my parents who always made me feel proud to be Latino and encouraged me to never shut up about it! I really tried to put that in my films when it made sense. Advertising was a great way to learn from masters like Spike Jonze, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu and Doug Liman all of whom I watched direct while I was still a producer. 

Do you have a favorite early project you have worked on that you are most proud of?

CARLOS: Yes, that has to be the documentary short I did on my father called Journey Into Exile where it explored his personal battles of leaving Cuba and immigrating to the US. That film won best of fest and gave me some much-needed early confidence.

You are a writer, director and producer now. Can you tell us about projects you are working on now in each role?

CARLOS: I’m always a writer first since that was what I was doing since the age of twelve when I was writing short stories that scared my mom, and before I was twenty, I was a published poet. Writing for me is therapy and is really something I love to do, it’s the only time you have full creative control. As a writer / director I have three films in various stages of casting & financing ready to film in the next twelve months not to mention a docuseries we are taking out to market that will be an umbrella project encompassing the history of Cuba. As a producer, I have two TV series with partners I am really excited about and that we are taking to market this year. 

Luci Lenox is an award-winning casting director based in Spain with a diverse professional background and international experience. She has cast over 100 productions for clients such as Netflix, Amazon, MediaPro and various Spanish independent producers, and her work has resulted in over 250 awards at international film festivals. In addition to her work as a casting director, Luci is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the industry and has served on the board of the CSA and the diversity and inclusion committees for both the CSA and APDICE. She is also a member of the Catalan and European Film Academies, CSA, ICDN, and APDICE, and has participated in panels and juries at film festivals such as Sitges, the London Film Festival, and Cannes. Luci's passion for her work as a casting director is evident in her commitment to finding and supporting talented actors from around the world.

Can you speak about how you became a casting director? Was it always something you wanted to do?

LUCI: Casting basically found me rather than it ever being part of my life plan.  I’d worked in many different jobs and then got a job in production at a Catalan production company, and I met Pep Armengol, an amazing casting director and he needed someone who spoke English for a job so I assisted him.  I discovered a job that was absolutely perfect for me and then one job led to another and then another and twenty-five years later I still love my job and find it interesting and challenging. 

You are originally from Ireland but now live in Spain. How did you end up there? And can you speak about the Spanish film industry niche you have found there? 

LUCI: I am very much a product of my time and generation.  I studied Spanish at university and spent a year abroad in Barcelona which was a life-changing experience. This was back in the 80s and Barcelona was just getting ready for the Olympics and was full of opportunities and I met an amazing range of people.  Then when I graduated there was a world-wide recession and I struggled to find a job so decided to move back to Barcelona for a while until the economy improved mainly because a friend offered me an apartment for a very cheap rent, which is ironic given the current housing crisis.  I never planned on spending my whole life here but here I still am.  

LUCI CONT’D: The Spanish film industry has grown from strength to strength and just keeps getting better.  I’ve been extremely lucky to have been a part of this positive growth.  So many international productions have chosen to shoot in Spain, and I have definitely been in the right place at the right time. I love that I’ve been able to work with auteur filmmakers like Juanma Bajo Ulloa as well as for almost all the major studios and platforms and have been involved in the casting of productions from not only the States but also Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, the UK, etc.  who have all shot here. 

What do you find most challenging about being a casting director?  

LUCI: The most challenging part for me is the best part that every project presents a new set of challenges that have to resolved.  Every role is a challenge.  The only thing I find challenging in a negative way is managing the fact that we continually break actors’ hearts.  Every actor who casts would love the role a

Sitaare Zameen Par, Review: Lots of sympathy, very little empathy

Aamir Khan has earned for himself the sobriquet of a crusader, or an actor with a conscience. Several of his films have dealt with social issues, as in Taare Zameen Par (autism) and PK (an alien who helps earthlings to battle social evils), or cricket+revolt against British imperialism of yore (Lagaan). He also hosted a TV show, wherein he tried to get justice for sufferers of societal victimisation and injustice. So, making a film about differently abled and challenged persons is a logical step forward in his mission, if I may classify his forays above, as such. In Sitaare Zameen Par, which means exactly the same as Taare Zameen Par (Taare and Sitaare are interchangeable in Hindustani, both meaning Stars on Earth), the spiritual sequel to Taare Zameen Par, he chooses to focus on persons afflicted with differing conditions, Down’s syndrome and Autism being two of them. He has to train a bunch of affected individuals as basketball players, and don the role of their basketball coach. We have seen other actors, including ShahRukh Khan, play coaches to sport teams, and lead them, from being underdogs to champions. So the platform is not innovative. And if we look at the net result of this effort, Sitaare Zameen Par generates a lot of sympathy, but very little empathy.

In New Delhi, an arrogant, opinionated and ill-tempered assistant basketball coach, Gulshan Arora, gives unwanted and unwelcome advice to his senior coach during a match, repeatedly. The coach castigates him and asks him to shut-up. Gulshan punches him in the face. Later, he gets drunk and drives his car himself, breaking another car’s rear-view mirror, and even causing damage to a police car, that sets out to stop him. Somehow, the coach is persuaded not to file a case against Gulshan, although Gulshan cannot escape suspension. But in the matter of the dual car banging, he is put on trial. Although he is condescending and egotistic, the judge, a woman, is considerate, because he is a coach, and has no previous criminal record. She sentences him to three months of community service, which entails coaching a basketball team, comprising mentally challenged players. Gulshan finds the sentence ridiculous and refuses to coach “mad people”, but is prevailed upon by his family and well-wishers to accept the sentence, for otherwise, it would mean heavy fines, or jail, or both. The judge fines him Rs. 10,000, for disrespecting the dignity of the court, and, he accepts the service sentence, reluctantly.

When he arrives at the community service centre where the coaching is to take place, he is met by Kartar Singh, the manager of the place. Kartar is a charming man and uses earthy metaphors to explain complicated things, like the under-developed brains of his wards. When Gulshan sees the players for the first time, he is shocked by their appearances, angry at their behaviour, which is due to their “not normal” manifestations and angry at their brat like antics. But, over time, with the guidance of Kartar Singh, he manages to gradually overcome his prejudices. He also learns that one of the members of his team, the tallest, is a nephew of the judge who sentenced him, and perhaps this was one factor in awarding him the sentence. Co-incidentally, Gulshan is short in height, touching 5’ 6”, about the same as the average height of the players. Meanwhile, his marriage is on the rocks, and he lives separately, from his wife Suneeta, staying with his mother. The main reason for the incompatibility is the self-centred nature of Gulshan, and his unwillingness to father a child. Within a matter of weeks, Gulshan manages to bring out the best in the basketball team. Kartar wants them to participate in tournament