SCREENING DATE: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17TH 2016
TIME: 7:00 PM | SHORT FILMS BLOCK 9
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SYNOPSIS
Blast Beat is a coming-of-age drama with some comedy thrown in the mix set in the year 2000 about CARLY and MATEO. Carly is a tougher-than-nails 17-year-old dude who’s passionate about metal music; it’s his escape, his ritual, and his definition. His 16-year-old rival brother, Mateo, is more of a free spirited, sensitive, and artistic soul.
The brothers and their family are Colombian undocumented immigrants who have been living in the U.S. for only a year and are in the middle of a difficult and painful cultural transition. Nelly, The boys’ mother, is having an affair with a man they know from church, and what’s even worse their role-model father, Ernesto, has been suddenly picked up by the Immigration Police and is getting deported!
When the news of the deportation comes to light, Mateo tries to carry out a crazy plan that would reunite him with his father. Even though the brothers are ultimate rivals, Carly sets out to protect Mateo from his own madness and save the future of the family.
Director Biography
Esteban Arango was born in Bogotá, Colombia. In the year 2000, his widowed mother moved him and his brother to the United States. He was 14 and just about ready to start high school. When he learned the term cultural shock, he thought it was an understatement. It took some time, and a couple of blows, but now he considers himself bi-cultural.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Florida International University with a BA in Communications, and later went on to work for Discovery Channel as a Creative Producer. His work has been awarded five very shiny Promax Awards. Two gold, two silver, and one bronze. His first short film, Jamás Dijo Nada (Never Said a Thing), was screened at the Cali International Film Festival in 2010.
In 2013, he started developing his first feature film, Of Stars and Alligators, along his best homie and long time collaborator, screenwriter, Erick Castrillon.
Esteban completed the intensive 2014 Directors Series workshop at the acclaimed National Film and Television School in England under the mentorship of DGA director Brian Gilbert–who’s films feature several Oscar nominated performances–in preparation for the his latest short film, Blast Beat.
Esteban likes cooking as a creative exercise – he makes a mean taco! He also enjoys good design, and enjoys the therapeutic benefits of screaming underwater. He recently visited his childhood home for the first time since he left Colombia, where he found out the house is haunted by the ghost of his pops – for real!
Director Statement
Every metal head out there knows that a blast beat is the apex in a metal song that unleashes an assault of raw energy. This is a direct analogy of the events in Carly’s life that force him to take a bold leap into adulthood, a decision that will change him forever.
Check Out The Trailer!!
Blast Beat Trailer Updated from Esteban Arango on Vimeo.
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