The West Begins at Fifth Avenue Poster

The West Begins At Fifth Avenue

dir. by Kryssa Schemmerling, Donald Gray, USA
runtime: 17 min
screening: July 4th
History and myth merge in this impressionistic mini-epic that imagines the birth and early life of legendary gunslinger Billy the Kid when he truly was a kid -- one of thousands of urchins trying to survive on the streets of 19th-century New York City's Lower East Side. The West Begins at Fifth Avenue draws visual inspiration from the photographs of Jacob Riis and borrows the cinematic language of early silent cinema to create an evocative, highly unconventional Western set entirely in New York City -- and in the mind.

Cast

  • Christine Sircusa (Lead Actor)
  • Jack O'Brien (Lead Actor)
  • John Edmund Morgan (Supporting)

Credits

Directors
Kryssa Schemmerling, Donald Gray
Producers
Claire Beckman
Co producers
Kryssa Schemmerling
Cinematographers
Ben Wolf
Editors
Sharon Hughes
Sound editors
Eve Cuyen
Mykonos Biennale 2015 - Film Festival -  The West Begins at Fifth Avenue  - screen shot
Mykonos Biennale 2015 - Film Festival -  The West Begins at Fifth Avenue  - screen shot
Mykonos Biennale 2015 - Film Festival -  The West Begins at Fifth Avenue  - screen shot
Mykonos Biennale 2015 - Film Festival -  The West Begins at Fifth Avenue  - screen shot
Mykonos Biennale 2015 - Film Festival -  The West Begins at Fifth Avenue  - screen shot

Screenings

  • Visionfest 14 05/2014 (Won for Production Design
  • Nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Production and for Writing)
  • Amarcort 14 12/2014
  • Speechless Film Festival 03/2015
  • Sound of Silent Film Festival 04/2015
  • NewFilmmakers New York 04/2015
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