The Speed of Life

TRANSPARENT FILMS, EMERGING PICTURES, SOLARIS, KINDRED MEDIA Present

THE SPEED OF LIFE (formerly titled “Superheroes”)

A film by ED RADTKE

Produced by IRA DEUTCHMAN, ED RADTKE,
GREG O’CONNOR

World Premiere: 2007 Venice Film Festival, Special Jury Prize

Trailer

IMDB

Photo Gallery

Special Jury Award Presentation at Venice Film Festival

Complete Press Kit (PDF)

Official Web Site

Synopsis

Lyrical and raw, THE SPEED OF LIFE tells the story of Sammer, a 13 year old boy who escapes the streets of New York City by stealing video cameras from tourists. He and his friends retreat to their working class neighborhood to quickly sell the cameras, but Sammer always keeps the tapes. Alone in his bedroom and editing on a rack of stolen computers, Sammer explores this world of footage, infatuated by all the far away places and other people’s seemingly happy lives. While slowly stashing enough money away so he, too, can travel to these distant places, Sammer must first deal with his older brother who is getting out of prison, while also caring for his ailing foster mother. As Sammer and his gang skip school, camp on the rooftops of buildings or dream of being in the Olympics, they are confronted by a host of characters who stand in their way: a juvenile probation officer who doesn’t like juveniles, an ex-con who hides puppies, and an old man with a secret who thinks he can fly. Sammer’s experiences waver between fantasy and the harsh reality of growing up in Brooklyn, and he soon discovers that not all tourists are happy, that he must go to Alaska and that cameras can indeed fly – even if people cannot.

Ed Radtke (Writer/Director)

Ed Radtke has made three independent feature films, including the award-winning BOTTOM LAND and THE DREAM CATCHER. THE DREAM CATCHER garnered 11 awards at international film festivals and has been released worldwide. THE VILLAGE VOICE described him as “a highly talented filmmaker” and LE MONDE called him a “shooting star”.

Ed Radtke has years of additional filmmaking experience, having served as a writer, producer, assistant director and editor on various projects including: features, documentaries, TV movies, ITVS funded dramas, commercials and music videos. He has taught filmmaking at the university level, worked extensively with at-risk youth, taught media making to developmentally challenged adults and to prisoners. He’s lectured at Columbia and NYU, conducted workshops in Paris and in South America, is the recipient of 2 NEA production grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship.

Radtke co-wrote the feature script AIME TON PERE, produced by Gerard Depardieu and starring Depardieu and his real life son, Guillame. The film was the official Swiss entry for Best Foreign Film consideration for the 2001 Academy Awards®.