UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS is that rare, independently made, small budget gem that can astonish audiences with its stylish, derring-do filmmaking and cinematic panache reflecting the scope and breadth of an Oscar contender: An enigmatic, mind bending road movie with flourishes of the psychedelic, avant-garde, surreal, transcendental, to say the least.
Audiences may feel that need to watch it again, discovering scenes that slipped passed them or were overlooked or underestimated at their first viewing, such as unforgettable wisecracks, poignancies and the like.
“Describing Unidentified Objects can be a challenge thanks to its genre-bending approach. We decided to treat every flash of sci-fi and surrealism as absolutely real—without commentary—because all cinema is illusion. Every member of our team has an opinion about what is actually happening — especially for our ambiguous ending. But I believe that to present a definitive answer would remove the viewer from the equation. As a director, I put two and two together on-screen. The role of the audience is to make their own unique four.” – Director Director Juan Felipe Zuleta
This bravura story was publicized early on as a Comedy/Drama, subsequently Comedy/Drama/Sci-Fi, also described as Drama/Fantasy and as just plain Narrative. Audiences are advised to take this in stride because they most likely will end up on the edge of their seats regardless regardless of the genre or the description.
Awards So Far 2022
Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival –Jury Award Outstanding First Feature, Honorable Mention
Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival – Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature – Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for Matthew August Jeffers
Upcoming Screenings
Screening In Person: Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m., Nitehawk Prospect Park
Streaming Oct. 13 – 25, Schedule in the works.
UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS
Peter Hobbes played by Matthew August Jeffers is a dwarf hiding from the world who is steeped in hopeless angst and licking his wounds in a shabby Big Apple apartment. He gets an unexpected offer from loopy, upbeat tenant, Winona Jordan played by Sarah Hay, who wants to hire him to drive her to a rendezvous with extraterrestrials in the wilds of rural Canada.
Off they go on the road trip, and their personalities don’t mesh well at all. There are no pull punches pulled when they rip into each other because of a perceived slight or insult. They dis, snarl, denigrate each other in the course of their adventure where they subsequently interact with a panoply of “lesbian cosplayers, shroom-addled survivalists, highway cops of an extraterrestrial nature” – and other whacked personalities.
The longer the trip, the more audiences see their personas fade and begin to realize – though some audience members might have realized this earlier in the movie – that UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS is so much more than an odd couple on road trip to an extraterrestrial rendezvous.There are scenes that will have audiences laughing, then cringing and cringing-laughing-ducking in their seats and so on as the plot reveals the agonizing trauma of their: Peter, as a small person, Winona, who trades sex for favors and $$$ to survive.
The truth in UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS is this, that the “only thing more nerve wracking than being abducted is being alone in the universe.”
Director Juan Felipe Zuleta in an Q&A described how he and his team got swept up in making something bigger than themselves. “We had a small budget, but nobody in my team was making a small movie. My writer was writing an Oscar-winning movie. My actors were so committed to their roles, that they were doing Oscar winning performances, and I was directing as if it was to be the last movie I’ve ever made in my life.”
Awards
2022 Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival – Jury Award Outstanding First Feature, Honorable Mention
2022 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festiva l– Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature – Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for Matthew Jeffers
Feature Film
Running Time, 100 minutes
Filming Locations, Kennebec County, Maine and New York City
Select Credits
Director – Juan Felipe Zuleta
Screenwriter – Leland Frankel
Director of Photography – Camilo Monsalve
Editor – Raphael Lubczanski
Composer – Sebastian Zuleta
Production Designer – Sara Millán
Producers – Juan Sebastian Jaimes, Juan Felipe Zuleta, Masha Leonov, Sarah Hay, Matthew August Jeffers,Leland Frankel, and Ramfis Myrthil
Executive Producers – Brandon Boyd, Julieth Restrepo, Adam Piotrowicz, Sebastian Zuleta, John Busch, Vincent Davino, Amory Hollis, Mat Hollis, David Leidy, and Chad Shields
Production Companies – Riceball Films, First Threshold, Blue Rabbit Films, VSNY Films, Hamilton Skunkworks, and Eidetic Pictures
CAST
Winona Jordan played by Sarah Hay
Peter Hobbes played by Matthew August Jeffers
Lola played by Roberta Colindrez
Sadie played by Tara Pacheco
Handsome Stranger and Cop played by Hamish Allan-Headley
Suzie played by Kerry Flanagan
Nico playedby John Ryan Benavides
Teen # 1 played by Dorian Perez
Teen # 2 played by Andrew Stevens Purdy
Cliff played by Roy Abramsohn
Abigail played by Elliot Frances Flynn
End of Part 1
Gregg W. Morris Can be reached at gregghc@comcast.net, profgreggwmorris@gmail.com