Short Slot 2

Tickets go on sale on Friday, February 19th

 

Don’t miss the moderated Q&A session with filmmakers from:

 

Thu Feb 27, 2020 – 7:30 pm | Hendricks Arts Center
Sat Feb 29, 2020 – 12:00 pm | La Casa Grande

Samaritan

Directed by Dustin Curtis Murphy
Narrative Short
United Kingdom | 12 min | 2020

An immigrant doctor, fearing deportation and living off grid, stumbles upon the unconscious body of a racist politician whose been kidnapped and left for dead.

Samaritan - Poster

After my first collaboration with producer Addy Raja (NORA, premiered August 2018 at BFI IMAX, TEDxNHS), we were eager to work with each other again. In early 2019 we were brainstorming ideas for the Uncertain Kingdom grant which was open to projects that specifically dealt with the uncertainty around UK’s future. Being passionate about climate change activism, we took this as our main theme, blending in Raja’s medical background as an NHS doctor, to create SAMARITAN – a dramatic sci-fi-esque short film about a Brexit-style vote, where citizens and politicians fight over the decision to leave or remain on planet earth. Whilst we did not receive the grant money, we were so passionate about getting this project made that we self-funded the production utilising the profits from our corporate work.

Rather than focus on an overly preachy narrative, the goal of SAMARITAN was to facilitate conversation around climate change. As artists we felt it our small contribution to use our voices to raise questions around this daunting topic, hopefully sparking conversation within audience members after the end credits roll.

Once production was complete, we were fortunate enough to have our project accepted to the Climate Story Lab (Doc Society, Exposure Labs, BFI Network), where we attended a 5 day intensive conference about utilising creative projects to combat climate change. Since then SAMARITAN had gone on to screen at BAFTA & BIFA qualifying films festivals and was a Semi-Finalist at the Academy Award qualifying Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Samaritan - Dustin Curtis MurphyDustin Curtis Murphy
Director

Dustin Curtis Murphy is an award-winning writer/director with over two decades of experience in the film industry. Originally from Los Angeles, he now resides in London.

His background includes several microbudget short films which focus on sociopolitical issues. Currently available on Amazon Prime is NORA, a short film about healthcare which premiered at the BFI as part of a TEDTalk. It has won over 20 awards, including Best Director. His previous Best Short Drama winner, AVERY ROAD, combined the issues of women’s rights and gun violence, to focus on the polarisation of American values. BOTTOMLESS, which is currently wrapping up its festival tour, is an award winning comedy about redefining masculinity in the dystopian present. His current project: BLAKE BYERS BROUGHT A CIGARETTE TO A GUN FIGHT is a documentary which focuses on police brutality in the US.

He has written and sold several feature screenplays, and successfully crowdsourced four seasons of the web-series HAPPY HOUR SKETCH COMEDY. He is also the key organiser for Kino Short Film – a London based indie filmmakers collective of 1400 strong. Kino offers open-mic screenings, workshops & classes, networking opportunities, short film production support and sponsors The People’s Film Festival.

Film Information

Director: Dustin Curtis Murphy
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2020
Language: English
Runtime: 12 min.
Rated: PG-13

Credits

Writers: Dustin Curtis Murphy
Producers: Addy Raja, Nicci Brighten

Connect With This Film

Principal Cast

BIFF - Beloit International Film Festival
BIFF | Beloit International Film Festival