20 March 20-26, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | Culture | Night+Day | News | Letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Lens Flair Harley Chamandy’s prizewinning Allen Sunshine screens in Coral Gables. BY DOUGLAS MARKOWITZ F or Harley Chamandy, a Montreal- born filmmaker who recently won the coveted Werner Herzog Film Prize, there’s no city on earth like his newly adopted home of Miami. “There’s so much in Miami that’s undiscovered,” he says. “I feel like when I tell people Miami’s my favorite city, they think of Miami as one specific place, which is, you know, partying and night clubs and stuff like that. But I think it’s so rich in culture here. People just love to look at the surface of the Lamborghinis and the sunsets, but I think there’s so much poetry here. And I really think there’s a lot that hasn’t been done.” The 25-year-old Canadian hasn’t lived in Miami for very long, relocating from New York in December after a series of visits. Yet he’s convinced the city can serve as a new epicenter of cinematic creativity — he cites Harmony Korine, another locally based di- rector and South Florida transplant whose studio EDGLRD is based in Miami, as an in- spiration. Chamandy believes stimulating film industries outside the main production hubs is crucial for the future of cinema. “If young filmmakers keep going to New York and LA, how will there ever be growth?” he says. While Chamandy plans to make his next film in Miami — he’s exploring a feature set in the local rap scene — Allen Sunshine, the direc- tor’s first feature screening at Coral Gables Art Cinema this month, was made in his native Canada. It’s also about as far from the neon dreams of Harmony Korine as one can get. A sedate drama set in the wilderness of Quebec, the film centers on the titular Allen (Vincent Leclerc), a music producer who is grieving the loss of his beloved wife, a pop star whose career he shepherded. Deeply in mourning, Allen sits in a cabin in the deep woods, surrounded by expensive synthesiz- ers, making ambient music destined to be heard by no one but himself, only ever inter- acting with occasional visitors. One day, he meets a pair of slightly mischievous preteen boys on summer vacation, Dustin (Miles Phoenix Foley) and Kevin (Liam Quiring- Nkindi). Soon enough, the trio develop a friendship that begins to shake Allen out of his hermit-like existence and bring him back from the depths of grief. Allen Sunshine is an artful character study about survivors’ guilt, creativity, and the need to carry on after tragedy strikes, and such a film requires a lot of pluck to get made. A small indie drama with no major stars, Allen Sunshine was made for less than $500,000, according to the director, who shot in Canada to take advantage of tax credits and had his own mother step in as producer. A small crew of close friends assisted the shoot, with Cha- mandy’s friend, cinematographer Kenny Su- leimanagich, using his own Super 16mm camera rather than a rental, as is standard. While the music in the film itself was com- posed by musician Ethan Rose (Paranoid Park, Showing Up), the director says the hard- est part of the production was outfitting Al- len’s studio with expensive synthesizers. He ultimately sourced them from a shop in Mon- treal called Synth Palace. “That stuff is the rarest of the rarest equip- ment,” he says. “That’s like $250,000 of equipment.” The film played at a few festivals and eventually earned one particularly influen- tial fan: Werner Her- zog, the legendary director of Grizzly Man, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, and countless other films. Chamandy says the re- lationship began when he invited the auteur and his brother to see the film, which was premiering in their hometown at the Munich Film Festival. “I didn’t want to write to Werner person- ally. I figured I could reach out to his brother and see if he would be interested in coming to see the film. I was like, ‘Hey, do you want to come see the film?’” Soon after the screening, Werner himself got in touch with him. “He sends me a long paragraph saying he watched my film twice. He told me what he thought about the film, and [that] he wants to give me the award. And it was gonna be in December.” December came around, and Chamandy flew back to Munich to accept the Werner Her- zog Film Prize, an award previously given to talented international directors such as Asghar Farhadi and Chloé Zhao. Chamandy describes the experience as a whirlwind — meeting Ger- man film fans, being feted as a bold new cine- matic voice, and finally meeting the man himself, his favorite director. He describes the experience as leaving him in disbelief. “Herzog sees me, and he goes, ‘Harley, my boy!’ and he opens up and he gives me a hug. And I swear to God, for the first five minutes, when we’re talking, I’m looking at him, but I’m like, I can’t believe this is happening,” he recalls. “He compared me to [legendary Palme d’Or winning filmmaker] Abbas Kiarostami, which is insane.” Allen Sunshine will premiere at Coral Ga- bles Art Cinema on Friday, March 21, with a wine reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the film at 7 p.m. Showings continue throughout the week until Thursday, March 27. Allen Sunshine. Starring Vincent Leclerc, Miles Phoenix Foley, Liam Quiring-Nkindi, Catherine Souffront, Joseph Whitebird, and Stephanie Breton. Written and directed by Harley Chamandy. 80 minutes. Not rated. Opens 7 p.m. Friday, March 21 at Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables; 786-472-2249; gablescinema.com. Tickets cost $10 to $11.75. [email protected] ▼ Culture Director Harley Chamandy on the set of his film Allen Sunshine. Harley Chamandy photo “IF YOUNG FILMMAKERS KEEP GOING TO NEW YORK AND LA, HOW WILL THERE EVER BE GROWTH?”
