USA / 2024 / 113 min / English / Documentary
After the birth of his grandson, Bobby Roth undertakes a cinematic investigation as to what constitutes being a “good man” in today’s world. This voyage of discovery leads him to interview more than fifty of his friends, both men and women who he considers to be “good people,” about their views on everything from how they were parented to their thoughts on feminism, change, and regrets they might have. Their answers both surprises and enlighten both the viewers and Bobby, himself.
DIRECTOR: Bobby was born and raised in Los Angeles. He studied philosophy and creative writing at Berkeley before graduating with a BA in Cinema from USC in 1972. He went on to film school at UCLA, where he received his MFA in Motion Picture Production in 1975. Since then he has directed more than one hundred episodes of television, twenty-five TV movies, and thirteen feature films. He was a founding member of the Independent Feature Project and the first Co-Chairman of the DGA’s Independent Feature Committee. His films have won countless awards and have been exhibited in hundreds of international film festivals. He also teaches film seminars throughout the world. With more than four decades of Hollywood film experience few Directors have accumulated such an iconic list of directing credits including: Miami Vice, Beverly Hills, Prison Break, Revenge, Grey’s Anatomy, Marvels Agents of Shield, Scorpion, Hawaii 5-0, Player and many more.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT: Men, “why we are as we are,” has been my focus as a filmmaker for fifty years. Along the way I was gifted with kindnesses from mentors such as Robert M. Young, Irvin Kershner, Sidney Poitier, and Constantin Costa-Gavras, who all gave me their thoughts and their attention. They believed in me, which gave me the courage to be an artist, after my parents had groomed me to be a floor-covering manufacturer. Last year, on my seventy-third birthday, my grandson was born. I looked at his purity and saw his inherent goodness and thought, “How will they treat a Jewish boy, born today?” More importantly I thought, “Who would he become?” My grandson’s birth led me to question my own journey and the many factors that determined how I have acted and reacted to this life. I asked, “Why am I as I am? Making this movie fundamentally changed my opinion of human nature. I used to believe we were all the same. Today I believe we are all unique, like snowflakes.
Contact: filmfestivallady@gmail.com
Special Guests: Bobby Roth
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