The Big Raincheck (Trailer)
A movie shot in 1981 is abandoned -- unfinished -- only to be discovered decades later. With the original script lost, and most of his actors dead from the ravages of the AIDS epidemic, the director resolves to finish it anyway. Second feature from the winner of the LA Film Critics Association 2014 Best Independent/Experimental Film Award.
A collage consisting of fragments of a 1981 movie shot on three-quarter-inch videotape, mixed with the following (all shot in 2015): documentary interviews about the history of the old movie; a fictional story about a young director who begins a film, abandons it, then returns to it decades later; and a set of wild improvisations in which various interpretations of how the old, unfinished film was meant to be completed are portrayed.
From the fragments that survive, the original film seems to have been about a crazed heiress searching for a lost brother who has allegedly been transformed into a zombie. Her search takes her on a journey where she encounters crooked detectives, a delusional psychiatrist, a moronic tour guide, and Communist spies masquerading as Hollywood big shots.
In the fictional story which frames this movie, a young filmmaker in Austin, Texas, begins shooting his first feature with people he knows. He has one close friend who inspires him to make this film. She is the first of his circle to die of the unfolding AIDS epidemic. She eventually returns, decades later, to inspire him to finish the film he had abandoned so long ago.
Director Statement:
I do not believe in barriers between people and I do not believe in barriers between different kinds of cinema. Crossing back and forth between fiction, documentary, comedy and drama. THE BIG RAINCHECK bridges footage shot in 1981 using primitive video equipment with scenes shot with the technology that exists in 2015. All of the elements that intersect in this film reflect my vision of an inclusive world and an inclusive cinema.
- Walter Reuben
The Big Raincheck (Zombie Trailer)
"The Big Raincheck" is unlike any other film at this year’s festival. It is an autobiographical, yet scripted, story of a young filmmaker who has been haunted by his unfinished work. The film combines unfinished fragments of a film originally shot in 1981, more recent footage, and documentary-style interviews recounting the original production. The story of the unfinished film is entwined with the history of the Austin film scene, and scarred by the wounds inflicted by the AIDS epidemic. Delightfully disjointed and frenetic, "The Big Raincheck" explores the link between the artist, his work, and his past with extraordinary results.
- aGLIFF Film Fest, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Austin, Texas.
In 1981, Walter Reuben began production in Austin on his feature film debut, The Big Raincheck. The film starred Maryanne Hayes as an heiress searching for her missing zombie brother. Circumstances prevented Reuben from finishing The Big Raincheck, and he did not feel compelled to return to the film until more than three decades later. While the footage shot in 1981 remained intact, the script was lost and Maryanne Hayes had died. So Reuben, now living in California, choose to complete The Big Raincheck as a non-fiction/fiction hybrid that documents the production of the film against the footage he shot in Austin and a new narrative thread about a director returning to complete the film he abandoned. In its new incarnation, The Big Raincheck also offers an invaluable historical perspective on Austin’s gay community in the early 1980s before and after the advent of AIDS.
- Lights Camera Austin.
The Big Raincheck
a Film by Walter Reuben
a Film by Walter Reuben
With: Albion Sabani, Breven Angaelica Warren, BJ Averell, Paul Louis Harrell, Ilsa Ambika Ryan, Brian Jimenez, Theresa Ireland, C. Jerry Kutner, Woolsey Ackerman, Franklin Grace, Stephen Lydic, Gina Lalli, Maryanne Hayes, Steve Wallace, Doug Simon, Mickey Troncale, Phillip Stansbury, Walter Reuben, De Lewellen, Wesley Parker, Teresa Davis, Chris Collins, Kirby McDaniel, David Gentry, Steve Wallace, David Steen, Andrew Bujalksi, Louis Black, Randy Bowen, Jeff Gainey, Greg Mefferd, Bert Minten, Gretchen Phillips, Eric Sherman, Joy Sottile, Margaret Valentine.
Written by Walter Reuben and C. Jerry Kutner
Produced by Andrew K. Sachs
Associate Producers: Woolsey Ackerman, BJ Averell, Sean Butay, Paul Louis Harrell, C. Jerry Kutner, Albion Sabani
Director of Photography (1981) Greg Mefferd
Director of Photography (2015) Andrew K. Sachs
Edited by François Maurin
Assistant Editor: Sean Butay
Music by Dan Ring
Color Graded by Bobby Maruvada
Additional Music by Tom McNalley
Additional Music by Tom McNalley
83min.