L-R: Chase Michael Pallante and Director Divoni Simon. Courtesy of R and F Entertainment.
Divoni Simon was birthed out of Hempstead, Long Island. Another brick in the wall of average suburbanites, he discovered solace from the crushing indifference of the world surrounding him through the films of Stanley Kubrick, Max Ophüls, Akira Kurosawa, John Ford, and many other directors. Inspired to become a filmmaker, he dedicated himself to learning the rules so that he might break them more fully and artistically. It can be said, Divoni, attended the “Quintin Tarantino Film School”, meaning, all his studies consisted of a rigorous diet of classic films and book research that took place inside the comfortability of his home; free tuition included. During his senior year of high school, he turned his attention to screenwriting, hand-scribing his first feature-length screenplay during slow class periods. He still writes to this day. In order to fund his directing debut short film, MATURING YOUTH, he took on a series of laborious and temporary side-jobs, with the help of donations from his family. As a writer/director, his goal is to engage a thought-provoking conversation about intellectual and philosophical material that will render his audience emotionally vulnerable.
Written and directed by Divoni Simon, MATURING YOUTH is about an under-achieving, unemployed man named Roger (Sean. A Kaufman) who enjoys his freedom of non-responsibility through his vices certainly from strangers Mae (Darleen Rae Fontaine) and Maggie (Rae’l Ba). However, his life is thrown into a whirlwind when his ex-girlfriend Sadie (Kim Paris) interrupts his life with a surprise: their illegitimate toddler son Junior (Joshua St. Leger/Albee Castro). After she disappears, Junior falls ill and Roger calls Doctor Riccard (Terrence Keene) to come to his aid. Life, then, gives him the ultimatum to begrudgingly face fatherhood or to continue living a life void of responsibility.
Being afforded a life of independent means it can be a blessing in some regard, perhaps, but it can also be the definitive test of one’s character and certainly for the co-dependency on life itself with the excuse of entitlement for Roger. If one chooses to use such a situation toward altruistic ends, or at the very least, a venture that can provide some personal fulfillment, it says something about who a man is. On the other hand, if he squanders the opportunity on a totally self-absorbed, shallow existence, there’s not much to conceal about a man’s self-worth and dignity let alone the future for his abandoned son. And the decisions on taking the latter path may provide some interesting moments, its cosmetically created, external bubble that serves no other purpose than covering up an empty life, and sooner or later, the bubble is bound to burst.
This dramedy questions the responsibilities of our actions, the sorrow in our happiness, the hoy in our pain and the ultimate test of character of becoming what we truly are deep down inside.
World Premiere Red Carpet Event was held on October 21, 2018, in New York City. Maturing Youth was nominated for Best Film, Divoni Simon was nominated for Best Director, Sean A Kaufman was nominated for Best Actor, Kim Paris was nominated for Best Actress, Terrence Keene was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and Darleen Rae Fontaine was nominated and won Best Supporting Actress. A total of 6 nominations and 1 win.”
Read: “Maturing Youth” Red Carpet and World Premiere Highlights Held on October 21, 2018
R&F Entertainment hosted at the event sit down interviews with the stars discussing the film, their career, and their dreams and inspirations. Following the award ceremony at the film festival, the stars had individual standing interviews on the red carpet with TV host and interviewer, Award-nominated actress, producer, director, author, and entrepreneur Janet Miranda.
The event had over 120 attendees from family, friends, crew members, and the general public. Individuals attending the event flew in as far as Florida and the west coast. Some even traveled over 20 hours by vehicle to attend. The screening room was filled to capacity and was sold out.
The screening opened with a round of applause once the film’s production company’s logo [R&F Entertainment] appeared right at the start. Once the ending credits came up the second round of applause roared through the screening room. The audience laughed and enjoyed the special bloopers during the end credits and finally had a standing ovation at its completion. Following the first world screening of the film, the cast and director were on stage during an exclusive Q&A with the audience.
The film is currently going through the New York film festival circuits before making its Los Angeles premiere in Spring 2019. The film will make it overseas to its international film festival run in 2020 with a projected distribution deal to release the film to the public by the holidays in 2020. (Source: R and F Entertainment)
[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/m7iTyFPgEyc”]
Video courtesy of R&F Entertainment
Follow the hashtags via social media – #rfentertainment #maturingyouth
Web: maturingyouth.com
Facebook: facebook.com/maturingyouth
Instagram: instagram.com/maturingyouthfilm
Featured Image Credit: Chase Michael Pallante and Divoni Simon.
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