FIRST REFORMED
Film - CineMasters Competition Filmfest 2018

FIRST REFORMED

Directed by Paul Schrader

Info

Director: Paul Schrader
Section: CineMasters Competition
Country: USA, United Kingdom
Year: 2017
Language: English
Version: Original version
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric Kyles, Victoria Hill, Michael Gaston
18+

Logline

FIRST REFORMED

Ernst Toller would be a priest to his flock — if the few far-flung believers who belong to his church could really be called that. Once he was a chaplain in the military, but the loss of his son, who died in the service of his country, martyred his own soul without mercy. Toller then meets Mary and her husband Michael, a radical environmental activist. She carries within her the future he no longer believes in. When calamity strikes, Toller is called to action.

Meet the director

FIRST REFORMED

Paul Schrader

Paul Schrader was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1946. In 1976, he achieved notoriety as the author of the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER. Shortly thereafter, he turned to directing. His work reveals his interest in material that explores the depths of the human soul — seen in AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980), CAT PEOPLE (1982), MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (1985), and THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS (1990), all of which have been shown at FILMFEST MÜNCHEN — as well as the, perhaps spiritually, intertwined nature of violence and redemption.

Credits

Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Director of Photography: Alexander Dynan
Film Editor: Benjamin Rodriguez Jr.
Composer: Brian Williams
Production Designer: Grace Yun
Costume Design: Olga Mill
Sound: Isaac Derfel
Producer: Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christ
Production Company: Killer Films, Fibonacci Films, Arclight Films and Omeira Studio Partners
World Sales: Park Circus Group