Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 10-19-18

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2018
Tampa Native’s Film To Be Shown In New York Film Festival This Weekend
El Roi, an original short film, written and di- rected by Tampa native, director and film student, Taylor Raye Curry, has won a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Her film will appear in the student film corner. It re- cently was selected for an award at the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Fes- tival held this week in New York City.
This weekend El Roi will be screened and Tay- lor and the producers and two principle ac- tresses will attend and shed light on the film from its inception.
The title of the film, El Roi, means ‘the God who sees me,’ and the film is an experimental short film dealing with women, identity and self love.
El Roi was filmed in the spring of 2017 when Ms. Curry brought a film crew of five from Los Angeles to Tampa to film her third short film. All members of the crew and Taylor are full time UCLA graduate students working on Master’s De- grees in various aspects of film.
Taylor will graduate in May with a MFA (Mas- ters in Fine Arts) in di- recting. She is a Phi Beta Kappa 2015 graduate of Spelman College and a Bloomingdale High School honors graduate.
Taylor says she de- cided to come home and film in Tampa to take ad- vantage of the beautiful Florida landscape and the wealth of support she knew she’d find here.
El Roi was filmed at Lake Park on North Del Mabry Boulevard (Lutz).
Taylor solicited local talent that included high school and college stu- dents interested in film. These students receive
film credit and valuable experience. Among them were: budding film maker, William An- drews and Blake High School Valedictorian and Salutatorian, Merritt Lay and Skyler Cox. USF student, Ayla An- drews played a support- ing role as well. Local members of the Links, Inc., Jesuit and Blake fac- ulty members, Alpha Kappa Alpha GTO mem- bers and members of Allen Temple AME Church acted in the film.
Additional supporting acting in El Roi were: Hosetta Coleman, Essie Pearl Mobley, Cheryl Byrd Washing- ton, Annette Williams, Sylvia An- drews, Margarette Spears, Ozepher Wilds, Phyllis Gaines, Corey Periech and Taylor’s older sisters, Shannon and April Curry.
Taylor has just com- pleted her final thesis project, a TV pilot, called The Investment. She will complete her studies in December and gradu- ate in May 2019 and con- tinue to work and live in Los Angeles, California.
Taylor Raye Curry is a director and writer, known also for The Skies (2016). Taylor is the daughter of Bruce and Casey Curry.
A scene from El Roi, filmed in Lake Park.
Budding filmmaker, William An- drews on the set of El Roi.
Several from the Tampa community had parts in the film.
Scene from El Roi.
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