Surreal torch song meets Laurel and Hardy in the Twilight Zone, in Ballad of the Cuckoos, a short indie film by writer/director, John Biscello.
Synopsis: A man and a pregnant woman find themselves trapped in a children’s room, with no memory of who they are and how they got there. What follows is a darkly absurdist meditation on dreams, loss and identity, as full lives are created inside a one-room universe.
Ballad of the Cuckoos will be filmed in Taos, New Mexico, where Biscello, a Brooklyn native, has resided since 2001. This funky enclave of a town, a sort of high desert grunge wonderland, blends ancient tradition with modern eclecticism, and is very much both an incubator for creative living and rugged individualism. In other words, it is the perfect place to raise Cuckoos.
Two talented Taos-based actors, Rita O’ Connell and Clint Murphy, have been cast in the film’s lead roles, with longstanding industry professional, cinematographer, Troy Paff, signed on as the film’s Director of Photography. A local tech/production crew will be assembled, which will include a set designer who will be constructing the customized, one-room set from scratch. The roots of this film will also reach back to Brooklyn, where Biscello’s childhood chum, Anthony Distefano, a composer and sound designer, will contribute his haunting and etheric soundscapes to the film’s score. Cuckoos will truly be an inspired labor of love with a grassroots foundation.
It takes a village to raise an indie film, and for those who want to become part of our “flight mission” and help our inspired Cuckoo wing it way onto the big screen, please visit our crowdsourcing campaign. Numerous perks available, and for those who cannot contribute financially, there are other ways in which you can be a part of our cinematic adventure.
