FEATURE FILM
CREDITS
CREATED BY
Carlos Pedraza
DIRECTED BY
J.T. Tepnapa
PRODUCED BY
Jody Wheeler
Carlos Pedraza
J.T. Tepnapa
Judas Kiss
Film festival judge Zachary Wells’ handsome one-night stand turns out to be a student competing for a scholarship Zach must award. Mysteriously, Danny Reyes’ entry has the same title as Zach's film that won the festival years before. Zach, his own career in shambles, sees Danny making the same mistakes he did. He decides to take matters into his own hands. As Zach scrambles for answers, a mysterious, chain-smoking campus tour guide counsels him: “Change the kid’s past, change your future.”
REVIEWS
A metaphysical rumination on lost opportunities, Judas Kiss uses magical realism to convey its message. Director of photography David Berry and production designer Rodrigo de Medeiros invoke a sort of quasi-alternate universe. To that end, the film is pure joy. Carlos Pedraza‘s script was an
unrelenting ball of fire, weaving the various plots and subplots into a coherent and eminently watchable film.
- MEN OF COLOR BLOG, Victor Hoff
Charlie David leads a strong ensemble cast in a tale of magic and possible redemption. Judas Kiss brings special effects and some twists on the familiar redemption tale to gay cinema. The production values rival mainstream work; I want to see more from these filmmakers.
- THIS WEEK IN TEXAS, Duane Simolke
The most ambitious of the films at NewFest, Judas Kiss lives up to a lot of what it promises. Spellbinding, suspenseful and entertaining, the movie has a lot to say about misguided ambition and true success. And good films ask more questions than they answer. Terrific acting, with Charlie David’s best role to date, Richard Harmon’s perfect mix of petulance, sexual swagger and true pain, and Sean Paul Lockhart’s performance is sweet; he shows great promise as an actor. Judas Kiss features good camerawork by David Berry and boasts a wonderfully penned confrontation and final twist that I did not see coming.
- NEW YORK COOL, Frank J. Avella
AWARDS
WINNER
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Best Debut Feature - Q Cinema Festival, Fort Worth, Texas
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Best Screenplay Feature - Long Beach QFilm Festival
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Best Screenwriting - San Diego FilmOut Festival
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Rising Star Award - Sean Paul Lockhart - Philadelphia QFest
FIRST PLACE
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Alternative Spirit - FLICKERS Rhode Island International Film Festival
HONORABLE MENTION
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Youth Jury - FLICKERS Rhode Island International Film Festival
OFFICAL SELECTION
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Opening Feature - Philadelphia Qfest
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Showcase Feature - Phoenix Film Festival
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Chicago Reeling Film Festival
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Opening Feature - North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
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ON THE EDGE FILMS - Louisville International Festival of Film
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NewFest, New York City’s LGBT Film Festival
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Salem Film Festival, Oregon
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Vancouver Queer, Film Festival
OFFICAL SELECTION (CONT.)
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FRAMELINE 35, San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival
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Holebi Filmfestival, Vlaams-Brabant Belgium
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Boston LGBT, Film Festival
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Closing Feature - Atlanta Out on Film Festival
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Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival
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Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
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Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2011
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Cinema Diverse Palm Springs
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Queer!lm Festival Bremen, Germany
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Flimmer Festival Norrköping, Sweden
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Albuquerque, New Mexico Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
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Fresno Reel Pride Film Festival
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Louisville LGBT Film Festival
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Winnipeg Reel Pride Film Festival 2011
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Memphis Out!ix Film Festival
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Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
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Minneapolis OutTwinCities Film Festival
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Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film Festival