“Battle on the Breakwall” thrills Ready Freddy crowd

Cristiana Barbatelli in “Battle on the Breakwall”

 
(Chicago — 8 June 2018) Playing to a packed house in The Den Theater, the short film Battle on the Breakwall delighted the audience at the Ready Freddy Film Festival with the lighthearted and surprising humor that has come to typify writer / director Peter Hongisto’s work.

“Peter’s work always includes a bit of magic or surrealism that never fails to catch me off guard,” says producer Josh Greiveldinger.

“Each time he sends me a new script, I’m excited to see what is going to surprise me,” he continues. “I look forward to figuring out how we are going to pull it off from a technical and narrative standpoint”

At the end of the night, Battle earned the audience vote for Best Short film from attendees at Ready Freddy, an annual showcase of current independent music videos, short films, and filmmakers.

Battle on the Breakwall is the story of two teams that compete in an extremely convoluted Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament.

 
BATTLE ON THE BREAKWALL

 

In lesser hands, Battle’s premise could have been a simple story of winners and losers. But Hongisto and director of photography Kyle Neimer captured the emotional highs and lows of the competition to leave viewers on the edge of their seats.

Shooting on a perfect day along the shores of Lake Michigan, the enthusiastic cast and crew helped build the film’s success from the get-go.

“Peter and Kyle basically mind-melded while setting up the shots, and all the actors were bringing so much creativity and passion,” says Greiveldinger. “The film doesn’t have any dialogue, but each shot still has a lot to say thanks the excellent actors that we were able to cast. Also, everyone got massively sunburned and no one complained. I feel bad about that, but they took one for the team, and I’m glad those burns are paying off with this win”

With the Chicago skyline and the lake as backdrops, this short film shows what filmmaking in the Midwest is all about: artists working their butts off with each other, not to have a huge commercial success or get a big break, but for the greater goal of sharing what they created with an audience.

Battle on the Breakwall isn’t big budget or ground breaking. It is a little film that exceeds the sum of its parts. In a matter of minutes, it transports the audience to experience something new and fun and outside of themselves.

Clearly, the crowd at the Ready Freddy Film Festival appreciated that enough to vote them Best Short Film.

Battle on the Breakwall is a project by Chicago-based White Belt Films. To learn more about the film and the company, click here.

CREDITS
Cast:
   Tony Bunnell
   Cristiana Barbatelli
   Colton Schied
   Mara Dale
   Sebastian Joseph
   Rachel Livingston
   Owais Ahmed
   Mickey O’Sullivan
   Lindsey Martin

Crew:
   Sam Kishline
   Adam Salinas
   Joel Zaruba

 
Send your film news to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.