The Jackknife Memoriam

Narrative Short

Director: Jason Hammonds

RT: 25:00mins

Friday September 28 7:05PM

Synopsis:

“The Jackknife Memoriam” takes us into the life of James Jenkins, his father, Jim, and his seven year old son, Jack. An unexpected phone call spins James’s life in a direction where he is forced to finally deal with the members of his nuclear family, including his trusted mother and his estranged wife. James’s inability to communicate with his family and more importantly, himself, throws him in an upside down existence where no one can be trusted. The past, present and future merge to expose a lower-middle class home, now in upheaval, due to paternal miscommunication across 3 generations. The family legacy is unwittingly handed down to Jack, who, as a young boy, learns that anyone can be born male, but it takes something more to be a man.

Filmmaker Bio:

Born in Flint , Michigan , in 1974, Hammonds is a filmmaker currently living and working in New York City . Hammonds ’ first film, Starbucks in New York, a satirical documentary, is currently being acquired by LocalPoint TV. He completed his first feature film, Together (2006), and has currently completed the first act of The Jackknife Memoriam (2007). Hammonds ’ new feature script, Silent Lucidity, is slated to begin shooting in 2007. 

In 1998, Hammonds founded OpenDoor Productions as an artistic house for productions in the Detroit area. He has since worked in Philadelphia , Los Angeles and now resides and works as an Independent Filmmaker in New York City . He studies acting & directing with legendary Wynn Handman at Carnegie Hall. He is pursuing his PhD in media/film studies at EGS in Saas, Fee, Switzerland where he collaborates with notable professors: Atom Egoyan (Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter), Claire Denis (L’Intrus, Chocolat), Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention - 2002 Cannes Winner), Nicholson Baker (The Mezzanine, Vox) and Yves-Alain Bois (Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art; Harvard).

In the last many years Hammonds has found his passion in socially conscious narrative films. As a versatile filmmaker, his ability to work creatively in budgetary confinements has given him an advantage in today’s production market. Influenced by filmmakers such as Kieslowski & Lynch and writers such as Bradbury & Vonnegut, Hammonds sets out to create a timeless visual story in Silent Lucidity, his latest endeavor for the screen.