Wed Feb 28, 2018 – 5:00 pm | Hendricks Arts Center
Amerika
Directed by Ryan Ward
Narrative Short
USA | 14 min | 2017
A portrait of two parents and their 8-year-old son struggling against the harsh realities of inner-city life in an alternate version of modern day America.
Ryan Ward
Director, Writer
Ryan Ward’s debut feature film, Son of the Sunshine, which he wrote and directed, was nominated by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for a 2012 Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay. The film premiered as one of Indiewire’s “Top 5 Films to Watch” at Slamdance and screened at over 30 festivals, winning 13 awards. The movie was praised as “bleakly beautiful” by the CBC, “heart-wrenchingly authentic and powerful” by the Toronto Star, and “a gem of filmmaking genius” by the National Post.
In 2017, Ryan wrote and directed In the Beginning was Water and Sky, a short Native American fantasy drama that is distributed on PBS Indies, NativeFlix, and ShortsTV.
In 2017, Ryan also wrote and directed the short film, AmeriKa, which has screened at 22 festivals, winning Audience Awards at both Atlanta Underground and Riverside Film Festivals, as well as Best Film and Best Director at Atlanta Shortsfest. A feature version of AmeriKa is shortlisted for the 2018 Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab and has been invited to participant in the JETS Initiative at Berlinale 2018.
