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The Red Front
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Total Runtime 15:59 |
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When he and his father are arrested by the Nazis, an SS Officer forces Werner to make an unspeakable choice. Shattered, Werner is recruited by his father's underground organization, The Red Front, to exact revenge. But revenge is never simple, and Werner is once again forced to make a final, possibly deadly choice.
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Adam Goudchaux
Adam Goudchaux was born in Los Angeles, CA., where he attended The American Film Institute (AFI). His first project was Sarah, a short film set in 1938 Nazi Germany about a German girl whose Jewish boyfriend is taken away on Kristallnacht ("The Night of Broken Glass"). His newest project, No Second Acts, about a middle-aged closeted gay man whose lover suddenly dies, was one of the winners of the HBO Shout! short film competition.
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Q: What inspired you to make your film? Was there any specific reason you chose to make your film?
Adam: My Grandfather, Joe Dispeker, who recently passed away at the age of 100. He was a Holocaust survivor and witnessed, first hand, the Nazis rise to power. He was one of the fortunate ones who made it to America before it really got bad. He eventually settled in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Growing up hearing his stories about this time in history had a profound effect on me. One story in particular really sparked my interest. Sometime in 1934, my Grandfather (a Jew), went to a Masquerade ball that was attended by many of the prominent Nazi SA leaders of the time. There they were, sitting at table, drinking champagne, these SA Men, many of whom were Gay, with their lovers, having a grand old time. These are the very leaders who would later be assassinated on in what is known as the Night of the Long Knives. This was a night were Hitler ordered the murder of many of his SA leaders whom he thought might try to take his power and or who may tarnish the Nazi's public image. This event is covered in detail in Luchino Visconti's film The Damned. So I took this little tale that my Grandfather told me and concocted my short film The Red Front. I threw many of my own insecurities into the main character to make the film more personal to my own struggles. .
My reasons for making it were to explore the grey areas of love, lust and political struggle. And to try and better understand what that time period must've been like for the people, on both sides, who lived through it. I also wanted to explore how different people deal with tense situations in different ways.
Q: What do you hope to convey through your film?
Adam: My hope is that people watch my film and think that life isn't always so black and white. I want people to think about my film long after it is over. I hope it lingers in them and makes them take pause for a moment to reflect on their own lives. I hope the viewer puts themselves in the protagonist's shoes and tries to envision how they would deal with such terrible situations. Last, but certainly not least, I hope the audience thinks about the concept of choice. How the choices we make in life effect us and others around us and what could happen when we are forced to make said choices.
Q: Who are your favorite filmmakers/what are a few of your favorite films and why?
Adam: Sheesh, this is always a tough one. My favorite filmmakers are Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Billy Wilder and Martin Ritt plus many many others. My favorite films by these directors are Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives. These films captures the interaction between people in relationships in such a raw and profound way. Something about Woody's writing and shooting style brings a certain authenticity to the story and characters that I rarely see in other films. From Martin Scorsese I have to go with Mean Streets and Goodfellas. Again, there is a certain immediacy and realism to the characters in these films, yet there is a definite stylized shooting method that brings these characters into a realm that goes beyond real life. From Billy Wilder I have to go with Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment two of the greatest examples of mixing the genres of Comedy and Drama. Billy Wilder's dialogue flies off the page. It isn't delivered by the actors so much as it pops out of their mouths. His films are clever, acerbic, cynical and funny all at once. From Martin Ritt I have to go with Hud and Norma Rae. He is another director that captures reality that somehow makes it more than real. Hud, in my opinion, is the greatest modern western ever made and Paul Newman gives the performance of a lifetime. In Norma Rae Martin Ritt captures the setting of the deep South in 1978 with such detail and precision that you never once question that these are actors playing roles, you almost accept it as life unfolding before your eyes. So what I gather from the above is that in general I love character driven films about real-life situations. I have nothing against Action, Fantasy and Sci-Fi, I just prefer films about people I can touch and relate to.
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