Former Telluride Local’s 1st Film Gets Raves

17 Dec Former Telluride Local’s 1st Film Gets Raves

SCOTT COHEN is an artist and director now based in New York, who used to call Telluride home. His photographic works, primarily derived from his own documentary footage, can be found in numerous collections around the world and collectively make up the parts of a poetic narrative called “An Unfinished Ballad.” Scott’s theater projects include a long collaboration with André Gregory developing Gregory’s “Bone Songs,” staged in an early incarnation at the Sheridan Opera House; the Beckett pieces “Waiting for Godot” and “Krapp’s Last Tape,” also performed on the Opera House stage and starring Jeb Berrier as Krapp; Mastrisimone’s “Extremities”; and the original travelogue, “My Great Descent.” Mr. Cohen’s interest in developing his first feature film, “Red Knot,” was inspired by the prospect of pulling together an ensemble to  improvise and film on location in Antarctica. The project is a poetic meditation on the nature of time and the importance of human relationships. The plot follows Peter (Vincent Kartheiser, “Mad Men”) and Chloe (Olivia Thirlby, Juno), a newly married couple who jump at the chance to satisfy their wanderlust by taking a belated honeymoon aboard a research vessel bound for Antarctica. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Southern Ocean and the jagged coast of Antarctica, this modern exploration of love, isolation, and betrayal examines the poles within us and the ambivalence of love. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle Film Festival.

Chloe (Olivia Thirlby) and Peter (Vincent Kartheiser) in their berth on the Red Knot, courtesy The Credits.

“A trenchant whirlwind mood piece,” raved The Village Voice

 “A Quiet Stunner of a drama, said ” The Hollywood Reporter

“One of the most gorgeous movies you’ll see this year,” NY Daily News

And by way of background, here is what Melena Ryzik of the New York Times had to say in an article that broke just before the opening of “Red Knot.” 

As so many Telluriders know – even former locals like Scott – no guts, no glory.

Write what you know. Shoot local. And most important, don’t spend your own money. There are a handful of rules all first-time filmmakers are taught, edicts meant to preserve their budgets and sanity. In making “Red Knot,” his feature debut, Scott Cohen, a photographer turned director, broke them all.

Then again, most novice moviemakers don’t have the palette that Mr. Cohen had to work with: a 385-foot research vessel, bound for Antarctica in early 2010 and free for the cast and crew to roam around on for three weeks. When his friend Gregory Colbert, an artist and filmmaker himself, offered Mr. Cohen a spot on the boat he had chartered for his own project, Mr. Cohen jumped at the chance to fulfill a long-held dream and make a movie. He had no script, financing, stars or expertise in the competitive business of indie film, but after five years of work and $1 million, “Red Knot,” a drama starring Vincent Kartheiser and Olivia Thirlby as newlyweds who defer a honeymoon for an Antarctic adventure, will open at the IFC Center in New York on Friday.

The film is the worst investment I’ll ever make in my life, financially,” said Mr. Cohen, 49, “but it’s been the richest experience I’ve ever had.”

That he persuaded a cast and crew of 16 to set sail with him, using just a four-page story outline, is a testament to his vision — or, perhaps, to the appeal of a rare, and paid-for, trip to Antarctica.

“It was the audacious nature of it — I was seduced from that challenge,” said Atilla Salih Yücer, the assistant director and producer. “If I had thought about it, I would have not embarked on it,” added Mr. Yücer, who has worked with Terrence Malick and Steve McQueen. “But I didn’t. I just followed this instinct, and trusted Scott…”

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