MACT PRODUCTIONS and ICONOCLAST in association with PARK BENCH PICTURES and UNCORKED PRODUCTIONS present

ATLANTIC AVENUE A film by Laure de Clermont Produced by Laure de Clermont Léopoldine Huyghues-Despointes R.Jameson Smith Matthew Snetzko Andrew D Corkin

How a seventeen-year-old bright handicapped girl encounters love through a antisocial male prostitute… RESUME The story revolves around an odd and unexpected encounter between a bright seventeen-year-old handicapped girl sat in a wheelchair and a young, antisocial male prostitute living in the Streets. SYNOPSIS Under a bridge in a deserted area, JEREMIAH is waiting with a group of other boys for potential customers. On the other side of the street, CELESTE is wheeling on the pedestrian crossing when suddenly her crutch gets stuck in one of the wheels. As she blocks the traffic, JEREMIAH recognizes a customer's car honking at the young girl. He runs to get the customer and also helps CELESTE to remove the crutch and cross the street.

This brief moment is enough for CELESTE to nourish an obsession for him. To get his attention, she will repeatedly pass by the bridge. JEREMIAH is not insensitive but as a survivor his focus is on the money he can earn through his business. So he will refuse her advances. The third time, she will show up in a cab, as a customer, and ask him to be her first love...

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT IMPACT OF THE STORY Leopoldine Huyhues Despointes (actress), wanted to send a message to other disabled persons, in order to decomplex a look on them.

As a strong and confident woman with clear sense of self , she also knows that it's not always easy for other persons in wheelchairs to accept their physical handicap .

I immediatly began to think that talking about the intimacy and the sexual desire of disabled persons would help to break a taboo. It is not obvious when you're in a wheelchair to have a normal love story, and it is not obvious as well to have sexual relationships when you want. Do disable persons reassure themselves in looking for other disabled persons? Do people in wheelchairs have the confidence to seduce and love anyone they want? Is the look of others able to transcend physical attraction? These are some of the pressing questions i seek to deal with. Leopoldine collaborated with me on that subject giving me information and stories of her everyday life.

I was not interested in showing nudity as what really moves me in that story is how two persons from diametrically opposite backgrounds are able to express a mutual desire for each other and share a unique moment. ARTISTIC CONCEPTION Antoine Wagner , is a talented film director and director of photography who has lived in New York for many years. When i was writing the project, he helped me translating it and was excited to shoot it . His work corresponds perfectly to the vision of colors and images i had in my head.

The old bridge i've found in Brooklyn offers very abrupt perspectives - an industrial environment which stands in contrast to the second part that takes place in a motel's stairs and in a tiny room with an old-fashioned and creepy decoration. The pale and natural colors of the environment contrasts as well with the artificial blue neon in the stairs and in the room. The realistic suburban environment leads to the dream and the fantasy.

The first half of the film is set in the street and features a confrontation of both character's point of view - how they appear in the look of each other. The shots are statics with many cuts. In the second part, the camera is hand-held lending a nervous rythm that will be interrupted by a long sequence shot in slow motion when both characters are climbing the stairs at the very end.

The sound is initially agressive: we hear the local train, the local subway and the cars driving in the highway. All these brutals sounds fill the deserted place as a third character.

During the long shot in the stairs, both characters are in a bubble, apart of the

world. We can listen to their breathing while climbing the stairs at the beginning before the music takes the all space.

The first part of the film is more realistic with a touch of lightness brought by the charming Celeste and the second part is emotionally intense with a dreamlike touch .

CAST BRADY CORBET (Jeremiah) Brady Corbet is one of the most inspiring actors of the American independent film industry. Among others , he has collaborated with Greg Arraki ("Mysterious Skin"), Lars von Trier ("Melancholia"), Catherine Hardwick (thirteen), Sean Durkin ("Martha Marcy May Marlene") and Michael Haneke (" Funny Games"). The short film he directed « Protect you and me » won the Short Filmmaking Award - Honorable Mention at Sundance film festival in 2009. LEOPOLDINE HUYGHUES-DESPOINTES (Celeste) Leopoldine is born with the genetic disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly called as "brittle bones". Her bones didn’t developp normally. She is currently enrolled in Wagner College in New York studying management and aspires to go to film school in New York this fall. She also always had artistic inspiration as she sings and acted before on stage.

LAURE DE CLERMONT’S BIO Laure is a french actress, producer and director living in Paris. As she always been interested in films, she started to work as an actress when she was a kid. After school, she studied History for five years at La Sorbonne . Then she lived one year in New York where she followed acting class and also had a sound intern experience on "A Crime" directed by Manuel Pradal. Back in Paris, she worked as an actress with Raoul Ruiz, Luc Besson, Julian Schnabel, Pascal Thomas, Jean Michel Ribes, Christine Laurent, Danielle Thompson, Rani Massalha… Two years ago, she directed a play "Independence" written by Lee Blessing and enjoyed a lot directing actors and carrying a project from the beginning to the end. This experience gave her the strenght and confidence to launch herself in the writing and directing of « Atlantic Avenue », her first short feature film shot in Brooklyn. Laure is currently developing two films as a producer with the french company MACT Productions and is also writing her next feature film... PRODUCTION COMPANIES MACT PRODUCTIONS PARK BENCH PICTURES Laure de Clermont R.Jameson Smith lauredct@hotmail.com +12078310879 27 rue de Fleurus Matthew Snetzko 75006 PARIS FRANCE info@parkbenchpictures.com mact@mactprod.com 65 Eckford St. Suite #8 BROOKLYN, NY, 11222 ICONOCLAST UNCORKED PRODUCTION 79-81 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière Andrew D.Corkin 75009 PARIS France acorks@me.com hello@iconoclast.tv andrew@anuncorkedproduction.com +33180505560 +16179435155

CREW Written and directed by LAURE DE CLERMONT Cinematography by ANTOINE WAGNER Sound by JON BOZEMAN BRUNO TARRIERE Production designer MAKI TAKENOUCHI Edited by GERALDINE MANGENOT NICHOLAS BIAGETTI 1st assistant director VLADIMIR DE FONTENAY Original Music by DANIEL BENSI SAUNDER JURRIAANS FESTIVALS CLERMONT FERRAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2013 National Competition (World Premiere) TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2013 Official shorts competiton- Unlimited Ride (International Premiere)

SHOT ON ATLANTIC AVENUE, BROOKLYN… ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MACT PRODUCTIONS