Up With Me

Director: Greg Takoudes
Cast: Francisco Vicioso, Erika Rivera, Brandon Thorpe, Justin Coltrain, Destiny Waters, Bernice Velos, Matt Timms, Anthony Portillo, Reya Sehgal, Kabeer Parwani
Format: HDCam   Runtime: 76 minutes
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screening in: Narrative Competition
plays with: Odd Shoe

Screening Times

1:30 PM, Sunday March 9th - Alamo Ritz 1
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12:00 PM, Tuesday March 11th - Alamo Ritz 2
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5:30 PM, Saturday March 15th - Alamo Ritz 2
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everything subject to change

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Synopsis:
When Francisco, a teenager from Harlem, is admitted to an upstate boarding school on scholarship, he is torn between his life at homeÑhis loyal girlfriend and his jealous best friendÑand the new environment. But as Francisco tries to leave his troubles in Harlem behind, his best friend puts his own life in danger as a loyalty test to Francisco. Francisco is then forced to become the one thing in boarding school that he resisted becoming in Harlem: a drug dealer.Up With Me was created as a collaboration between Greg and at-risk teenagers from Harlem. The screenplay is based on months-long writing workshops with the teenagers, who then starred in the movie, and Ð when they weren't acting in scenes Ð helped crew the set. This feature film was shot in the streets where they hang out and in the apartments where they live.

Director's Bio:
Greg Takoudes is the director, producer, and co-writer of the feature film Up With Me. He is also a producer and the co-writer of The House of Satisfaction, a feature film currently in post-production. Greg's House screenplay is based on an earlier script that was staged at New York's Public Theater, starring Tony-award winning actor John Gallagher, Jr. Greg is also the producer on Rose Parade, written by Maeve McQuillan, a feature film in pre-production that was shortlisted for the 2008 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award, and accepted to the 2007 Berlinale Talent Campus.Prior to becoming an independent filmmaker, Greg worked for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer on the creative team at Imagine Entertainment in Los Angeles. There, Greg was involved with the development of movies such as Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Senior Editor at Ecco/HarperCollins, and their son.