Faculty Film Director and Editor Win Honors at Pan African Film Festival
[CONTACT INFORMATION: Alison Graham | Ratcliff Graham Publicity | 310-494-1554 | http://www.happysadthemovie.com]
Los Angeles, CA -- HAPPYSAD, a feature film directed by CSUN professor Dianah Wynter and edited by Prof. Michael Hoggan, won Special Jury Mention at the Pan African Film Festival.
Shot entirely on location in Trinidad and Tobago, HAPPYSAD is a coming-of-age drama about 17-year-old Mandy Graham (Caribbean actress-model Angel Ross), a high school soccer player intent on making something out of her life and desperate not to end up anything like the father who abandoned her and the mother incarcerated for murder.
Veteran actor Bill Cobbs (Night at the Museum, The Others) co-stars as the sexist patriarch of her fractured family.
The Emmy nominated Prof. Wynter has taught advanced television directing and introduction to Mass communications at CSUN and shot this feature on location during her winter vacation one year ago.
Prof. Hoggan who teaches Avid editing and film production, has edited on over 20 different TV series including such diverse shows as: Early Edition , Cop Rock, Miami Vice, Comic View, and Fantasy Island.
Famed feature film producer-director Bill Duke says of Wynter’s film, “she allowed the audience to care about the characters. It was touching, painful and intelligent. I would recommend HAPPYSAD to anyone who has a chance to view it.”
The CSUN community clearly took those words to heart, as many faculty and students attended the screenings during the festival, which took place February 5 through 16th.
The film was written and produce by Horace Wilson, a native of Trinidad, who created a story that intertwines Mandy's personal struggles with those of her newly inherited "dysfunctional" family. Passions are unleashed. Souls are bared. Secrets are revealed. Tragedy strikes.
Award-winning director/producer Dianah Wynter brought together an exciting ensemble cast of Caribbean actors. Using filmmaking skills that she imparts to her students here at CSUN, Wynter crafted a touching story of love, pain, victory and redemption that appeals to a broad audience.