Sunday 22 January 2012

Luther Campbell At Sundance Film Festival For 'Life And Freaky Times Of Uncle Luke'

As you read this, Miami's most infamous celebrity is invading the white hills of Utah. Luther Campbell, former frontman of 2 Live Crew and recent Miami mayoral candidate, is at the Sundance Film Festival.
He's the star of "Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke," a short created by local film outfit Borscht, that was selected for Sundance's 2012 Short Film Program.
On screen, Uncle Luke becomes Miami's hero in a loose homage to the French sci-fi flick "La Jetee." Read more about the wonderfully ridiculous plot hereand watch the trailer below.
The film even made Indiewire's "10 Shorts You Must See At Sundance" list.
"Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke" premiered at the film festival last, where there was complimentary Lukey Cushions, designed by Miami band Jacuzzi Boys.
HuffPost Miami spoke with director Jillian Mayer and screenwriter Lucas Leyva before they left for Sundance. 
How significantly has the film changed since the Borscht screening?

Jillian Mayer: The film in its final edit is more close to our original vision. The rough cut that was played at Borscht was not final by any means, in fact during some of the editing process that took place for the rushed Borscht screening, I was passed out on Benadryl after finding out I was suddenly allergic to strawberries. The film is now cleaner and more refined. The final version that Sundance is screening is darker in contrast in its aesthetic.

Why did you pick Uncle Luke as a subject?

Lucas Leyva: The film was part of the series of filmmaker/ Miami musician collaborations we made for Borscht 7. We knew from the start we couldn't make a film series inspired by Miami musicians without using Luke somehow, but never really thought we could get him to agree. Evan Rosenfeld and the Rakontur guys set it up, and Jillian seemed like the least likely filmmaker to team up with Luke.

It was either going to create something really awesome or really awful. I had been playing with the idea of writing an updated "La Jetee" in Miami for a while, and when I saw Jillian's art installations, it clicked. It turned out Jillian and Luke have a lot in common (besides hip-hop backgrounds) in that they are both performance artists of sorts that play with notions of identity and public personas.
How do you think the Sundance audience will react to Uncle Luke?

Lucas: The irony is that I think the audience at Sundance might like the film more than the audience that saw the rough cut in Miami. Most will be more aware of 'La Jetee' and have less context for Uncle Luke going into it. They won't appreciate the specificity (scenes taking place at the Swapshop, Turkey Point, Liberty City) and the socio-political implications of the casual use of the n-word and what growing up in Liberty City in the 70's and 80's represents, but they might be able to see the big picture more clearly.

Jillian: I hope that the Sundance audience is well aware of comedy and satire.

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