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William Kaufman is known for his stylish, low-budget action films Sinners and Saint, The Hit List, One in the Chamber, and The Brave, and he’s back with a highly anticipated, culturally distinct, viciously authentic film — The Channel. As the synopsis describes its, “After their bank heist goes wrong, a desperate criminal, his out-of-control brother, and their motley crew of ex-Marines must escape New Orleans and the determined FBI agent who pursues them.”
The Channel stars Clayne Crawford (The Killing of Two Lovers, Lethal Weapon) and Max Martini (13 Hours, Captain Phillips) as fromer Marines who have become desperate criminals. The two men find themselves trapped in New Orleans, relentlessly pursued by a determined FBI agent after a botched and bloody bank heist. Brainstorm Media is presenting the film in select theaters and on demand on July 14th. You can check out the trailer below:
Family and the Irish Channel
Kaufman is devoted to the cultural specificity of the narrative in a way that may bring to mind Boondock Saints, but with the gritty realism of the situation heightened past stylization. Like the great bank-heist-without-a-bank-heist film, Reservoir Dogs, Kaufman’s The Channel is less about the actual heist itself and more about the people involved and their problems.
The filmmaker explained his rationale and inspiration in his background statement:
Family means everything to the Irish. Always has and always will. And that’s never been more clearly displayed to me than in the culture and people of the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans, a place that holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve come here since I was a boy, celebrating as many St Paddy’s days in The Channel as I possibly could, before finally getting the opportunity to make the neighborhood my home a few years ago.
Originally settled by the Irish immigrants who came in the 1830s to build the New Basin Canal, it quickly got a reputation as a dirty and dangerous place. The St. Mary’s Market Gang, the Shot Tower Gang, and the Live OakGang ruled this part of town. Although that reputation has vastly disappeared over the years, its spirit lives on in the beautiful little neighborhoods lined with gorgeous old Shotguns houses and Creole cottages, adorned with Irish flags and through iconic locations such as St. Alphosos Church the original Irish neighborhood church, and Parasol’s Bar and Tracey’s Bar on Third andM agazine, the focal points for St. Patrick’s Day parades in The Channel…
To me this film in many ways is a love letter to the films of my youth. An unapologetic, dark, violent tale about the cost of living with the consequences of the choices we make, and how they affect ourselves and the people we hold dearest.
From Brainstorm Media, The Channel will be available in theaters and on demand beginning July 14th.
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