- ELI (film)
"ELI" is an award-winning short science-fiction thriller starring
David Anders ("Alias, Heroes" ). It debuted at theNewport Beach Film Festival in April 2007 and premiered inLos Angeles on theUniversal Studios backlot. The film was directed and edited by Josh Lee Kwai, written by Tyler Erskine and Ron Beyers, and produced by Erskine, Beyers, Lee Kwai and Jeff Poppen as a filmmakers “calling card.” With a budget of $40,000, "ELI" was financed by the producers, donations from their friends and family and a grant from the LEF Foundation. Non-profit arts organization Fractured Atlas acted as fiscal sponsor allowing donors to make tax-deductible contributions. The film was shot on HD using a Sony F-900 donated byPanavision . Shooting lasted five and a half days in five different locations in the greater Los Angeles area including Irvine, Downey andLeo Carrillo State Park .Plot
A patient awakens on an operating table with no idea where or even who he is. He leaps up and runs from the room, struggling to get his bearings. Eluding doctors and orderlies who try to re-sedate him, he stumbles downward through the eerie building of the Mirror Corporation. What is this place? Who is he? He notices a strange tattoo on his hand that reads: ELI. A single memory flashes before his eyes - a vision of a mysterious woman on a serene beach. She opens her mouth as if to speak...
Suddenly, doctors and security guards close in around ELI. He runs deeper into the MirrorCorp labyrinth, trying to get to the ground floor and a chance at freedom. But, when he rounds a corner and catches a glimpse of the woman from his memory, he sees a chance to find answers. Forsaking all else, he sneaks after her, desperate to uncover the truth about his identity however sinister the answers may be.
Awards
Winner: Best Horror/Suspense Film at the
Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival 2007.Winner: Best Sci-Fi at the Show Off Your Shorts Film Festival 2008Winner: Judges Choice Award at the Wizard World Con Film Festival L.A. 2008Winner: Best Dark Future Screenplay at the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival 2007Influences
"ELI" is reminiscent of both "
The Matrix " and "The Twilight Zone". Lee Kwai has also acknowledged "Minority Report, 300", the Sci-Fi Channel TV series "Battlestar Galactica" and video games like "Metal Gear Solid " as major influences on the visual style of the film.External links
* [http://www.elimovie.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=1001347|title=ELI
*MySpace|elimovie|"ELI"
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