The stranger-than-fiction story of a scandal-ridden film festival organizer is at the heart of a filmmaking duo’s investigative quest.
After Dan Nuxoll, the Program Director of NYC’s Rooftop Films, had some less-than-satisfying business dealings with the Queens International Film Festival, he partnered with documentary filmmaker Martha Shane (BI THE WAY) to find out what was going on. The result of their multi-year investigation: a portrait of that festival’s director, Marie Castaldo, a charismatic figure who somehow has managed to work within the film industry for more than twenty years despite numerous allegations of fraud and failed festival after failed festival plagued by unpaid bills and other woes. Constructed as an investigative thriller, Shane and Nuxoll’s film aims to peel back the layers of the enigma that is Marie Jocelyne Castaldo and uncover (if possible) the real person behind the cons.
There are just under two weeks left in the project’s Kickstarter campaign. With about 40% of its $22,880 goal raised for additional production, the filmmakers still need help making it to the end, so consider contributing if you can. To keep updated on the project, check out its Facebook page.
I’ve known Nuxoll for the past several years, and have heard him speaking about this project in passing, so I’m excited that the film is nearing completion. I’m drawn to the idea of artfully using documentary to explore different genres, so welcome the filmmakers’ investigative approach. This, combined with their unusual subject, should hopefully result in provocative and compelling storytelling – perhaps something akin to Bart Layton’s recent Sundance title, THE IMPOSTER, about another unbelievable con artist. The twists and turns Marie Jocelyne’s story takes also promise to expand its reach outside of the potentially insider world of the film industry to appeal to anyone curious about swindlers and the schemes they try to get away with, and the comeuppance they often face.
what (not) to doc 