SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN TO THE OBENSON REPORT PODCAST BY CLICKING BELOW
You can also DOWNLOAD IT VIA ITUNES
AN INTRO IN BRIEF...
I'VE GOT A WEBSITE; GO TO IT - WWW.TAMBAYOBENSON.COM .
I moved to New York from Los Angeles, 4 years ago, where I was hoping to find a more appreciative audience for the kind of artistic endeavors of interest to me.
Frustrated with industry, yet determined and hopeful, I spent the next 2 years making a film, despite very limited resources.
Below is that film.
I'm here to build an audience for the film, as well as all my other current and future projects.
I also host a weekly podcast on black cinema called THE OBENSON REPORT which you can find above.
If you want to know more, there's already a wealth of information on this page. But certainly feel free to ask me any questions, and I'll gladly answer them as best as I can.
Cheers to all!
TAO
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------
TAMBAY A OBENSON LLC PRESENTS
BEAUTIFUL THINGS
NOW ON SALE AT AMAZON.COM
TO PURCHASE, CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW.
Written and Directed by Tambay A Obenson
Starring
Hallie A Brown
Tambay A Obenson
www.tambayobenson.com
Publicity and Distribution Contact :
Tambay A Obenson
E-mail: tao@tambayobenson
BEAUTIFUL THINGS
The Cast
Schola HALLIE A BROWN
Gabe TAMBAY A OBENSON
Interviewer NEEMISHA MARTIN
The Crew
Written, Directed & Produced by TAMBAY A OBENSON
Cinematography MEBINCHI FLUKER
Editor TAMBAY A OBENSON
Sound FRUTO CORRE
Production Assistant HANZ ORTEIZA
Production Assistant IMANI MCCRAY
BEAUTIFUL THINGS
Synopsis
Life as it happens - the film..s tag line - says it all. Made up of a series of illuminating, connecting vignettes, this raw slice of life film is a meditation on love and relationships. Schola and Gabe are 2 young artists (she an actress and he a filmmaker) struggling to advance in their respective careers, as well as deal with the needs that any healthy relationship demands. The film is divided into 4 appropriately labeled chapters, indicating the 4 stages of a relationship - from the first meeting, to the early novelty phase, continuing on as the novelty wears off, and ending with a matter of choice of whether to continue on or separate.
BEAUTIFUL THINGS dares us to take an honest look inward and understand our motivations. The challenging film calls for an examination of the idea of the monogamous, everlasting relationship, and does a remarkable job of pulling the viewer into the lives of its 2 flawed, human characters. Contemplative shots follow the 2 characters as they live and grow, alone and together. And the mixture of the startling black and white, and color photography of the film enhances its realism, and the New York City backdrop adds to its distinct persona.
Director's Production Notes
BEAUTIFUL THINGS is a universal story about love and the nature of relationships. We have all, at one time or another, been romantically involved with a partner. One can say that we actually have an innate desire for companionship. We spend a lot of our lives searching for the man or woman with whom we can spend the rest of our lives, but do we really consider the finality of that, once we do find a partner, and the amount of work required to make any relationship satisfying for all involved? Are we simply in love with the idea of being in love, and not spending the necessary time to become adequately aware of who we are and what we want, and are capable of?
For many years, I have been interested in the machinations of relationships .. what attracts us to one another, what keeps us together, takes us apart, etc. How are some couples able to make their relationships last forever, while others struggle to keep things afloat daily. Are we really meant to be with one person, or are we really like the bee that hops from flower to flower to flower?
The film was in effect a form of therapy for me as I tried to work through my notions of love and relationships.
While there was an initial script for the film, during the production process, I chose to toss out the script on several occasions and simply improvise. Hence, a significant portion of the film was indeed improvised. This appealed to me a great deal because it enabled the actors to essentially play themselves, and provided for what I believe are true, real moments between the actors, rather than forced, staged rigidity. It was very important to me that the characters appear very real to the audience, rather than actors playing roles, given what I set out to accomplish with the story, and I believe we accomplished that quite well.
The film is in many ways an experiment. I love filmmaking as a medium of self-expression and the idea of giving an image and sound to my thoughts on specific issues, and have audiences appreciate the presentation is nothing short of remarkable.
The film was made for next to nothing .. roughly $3,000 .. on digital video, over a 2 year period, and was edited on my home computer. The crew was made up of myself, a cinematographer, sound recorder and 2 production assistants. While the film is not the gem I originally planned it to be, I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish given the limited resources at our disposal. I am prepared to continue making films this way .. my way .. with total creative control over my work, even if it's on nothing budgets with 3 man crews. I love cinema and hopefully cinema loves me back!
About the filmmaker
33-year-old writer/director Tambay A Obenson is a resident of Brooklyn, New York. Born in Nigeria to a Cameroonian father and a Nigerian mother, Tambay moved to the USA at 13 years old, in 1987. He took 2 years worth of film courses at the City College of San Francisco, where he made 3 short films .. with the final film, SHE IS, playing at a handful of festivals nationwide. Tambay was a semi-finalist for the Sundance Filmmaker's labs in 2004, and in 2006, was accepted into the week long Berlinale Talent Campus, in Berlin, Germany. Also in 2006, Tambay was invited to be a panelist at the Independent Black Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. In the same year, and Tambay was also a featured guest on an Air America Radio show called On The Real, hosted by former Public Enemy front man, Chuck D. BEAUTIFUL THINGS is Tambay's first feature film. He is currently involved in several projects, including the distribution of a film called THE MAN WHO COULDN'T , written and directed by Brandon Wilson , an L.A. based filmmaker. Tambay is also working on 3 feature-length screenplays, one of which he hopes to begin production on, during the fall of 2007.
Tambay can be reached via email at [email protected] .