The Guatemalan Handshake - Out today!

Today marks the release of Benten Films' third title, Todd Rohal's The Guatemalan Handshake. The long road to this release began in January 2007 in the lobby of the American Museum of the Moving Image, where I first met Todd and told him how enamored I was with his film. At that time he was actively being courted by another distributor, but our perseverance finally paid off after many months of negotiations. No mumblecore title this, Todd's film is a lush 35mm Cinemascope affair that looks gorgeous on DVD, thanks to the new anamorphic color-corrected transfer we prepared exclusively for this release. With package art by illustrator James Braithwaite (animator of the Oscar nominated short, I Met the Walrus), an essay by director David Gordon Green (George Washington, Pineapple Express) written for this release, and over two hours of bonus material, The Guatemalan Handshake is our most ambitious release to date, and the many nights, weekends and holidays that Aaron, Todd and I (and others!) sacrificed have certainly paid off. I'm always at a loss when asked to describe the film -- it's better experienced than summarized. I can say that it is a warm-hearted indie-comedy in the true sense of the word, unlike recent attempts by Hollywood to mask multi-million dollar projects by slapping an indie tag on it and rolling it out at Sundance. This is a peek into the imaginative, inventive mind of writer/director Todd Rohal, and it truly is a labor of love. (And a costly one at that!) The film, which stars indie-rock hero Will Oldham (Old Joy) and features music from David Wingo and The Moldy Peaches (Kimya Dawson, Juno), has been receiving some wonderful reviews, including a glowing writeup from Michael Atkinson over at IFC, a review from Peter Nellhaus (who finds hints of Vonnegut in the story), and a short piece from (oddly enough) style.com, who refer to Todd as a quirkaholic. Buy it, rent it, steal it from a friend, but do try and see it. Click HERE to see a clip from the film that features Will Oldham and Sheila Scullin performing a Moldy Peaches song.

Comments

[Horacio Ramos]

I`m a peruvian film geek (f.y.i. Peru is a country in South America). A frined I met when I visit NY show me yor blog ad I´m a fan since.
I just wanna congratulate you for the release of The guatemalan... I think what you´re doing is great and I hope yo keep doing it. Luckly, when I return to the States i wll get a copy of it. One more time, congrats!

[john]

Congrats.

James Braithwaite's design is pure class. (Thanks for releasing an independent film with cover/poster art that looks nothing like a drawing by Wes Anderson's brother Eric. Twee, naïve, hand-drawn lettering that looks like it was swiped from a 7th grader's notebook is getting really tiresome [see "Juno" and dozens of others] but is hotter than ever.)

[Fernando]

Hey, I just finished watching this (got it from Netflix) and wanted to give you a big thumbs up on exposing this little oddball gem to a wider audience. It's really got a genuine, homegrown kind of quirkiness (such an overused word, I know); really reminded me of 'Slacker,' 'All The Real Girls,' or even 'Gummo.' I will definitely be passing the word along to my friends. Keep up the fine work!