Jeff Bonistalli's film, Asabiyyah, four years in the making, will be shown to friends and family in Ridgefield on June 15.
The film ran into nearly every problem possible, said Bonistalli, a Ridgefield native and a 2009 Western Connecticut State University graduate.
After the first summer of filming, the lead actor disappeared.
"We had to dump all that footage. We started again," Bonistalli said. That led to a winter of searching for another lead actor. Weather problems and seasonal changes led to another year of delays. Work started in earnest in the third year.
"I've always worked in film making," Bonistalli said, starting as soon as he was old enough to work his parents' video camera. That led to him trying to turn every project in high school into a film. He handed in filmed book reports.
"It didn't impress my teachers very much," Bonistalli said.
This film deals with people trying to start working together again after civilization collapsed. He said he based much of it on the problems faced by the world between World War I and after World War II. He said some of the film comes from the collective farms that operated in the Soviet Union.
To see this film in Ridgefield on June 15, contact Jeff Bonistalli at asabiyyahmovie@gmail.com, and ask for an invitation.
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