The Big Charade
1997
Co-Director, Co-editor, Co-writer, Camera
75 minutes, B&W, 16mm
When bank robbers Sarah (Katovich) and Max (Seidman) pose as an American artist and her boyfriend visiting an artists’ commune in South America, they trigger a number of big charades. Protecting their identities is crucial, but repairing their disintegrating relationship soon proves to be the most essential element for their survival. Filmmakers Daniel Robin and Jonathan Sanford pay homage to the French New Wave through their stylish use of jump cuts, hand-held camera work, and a narrative that says more about its characters through what is not expressed on screen. Seidman and Katovich are perfectly cast as the young American couple whose style, flair, and ultimately doomed relationship may remind viewers of that other infamous bank-robbing duo, Bonnie and Clyde. The Big Charade’s opening and closing sequences are particularly lyrical in their use of movement and sound, while the film as a whole contains an eclectic mix of humor and melodrama.
– Alison Macor
Screenings
SXSW Feature Competition
Big Muddy Film Festival
Bogota Int. Film Festival
Cartagena Int. Film Festival
First Glance, Philadelphia
Daniel Robin 