Posted to MediaSyndicate.com (Apr 04, 2009 - 12:55 PM) : Better Archangel Pictures is pleased to announce that the company’s short film production, Harvest Home, will screen at the 2009 Cannes Short Film Corner. Harvest Home was written and directed by Austin filmmaker Craig Whitney and stars Diane Hruska and Scott Bate. “We are extremely pleased and excited to have the opportunity of bringing Harvest Home to the Cannes 2009 Short Film Corner,” said Whitney.

AUSTIN, Texas, April 3, 2009—Better Archangel Pictures is pleased to announce that the company’s short film production, Harvest Home, will screen at the 2009 Cannes Short Film Corner. Harvest Home was written and directed by Austin filmmaker Craig Whitney and stars Diane Hruska and Scott Bate.

Harvest Home tells the story of Esther Kern (Diane Hruska), an elderly woman whose children have all grown up and left home, who struggles to readjust to the world and find new purpose in her life after the recent death of her husband. When a cable repairman (Scott Bate) visits her house to fix her television, he finds himself smothered with attention as she tries to reach out to a world that is rapidly leaving her behind.

“We are extremely pleased and excited to have the opportunity of bringing Harvest Home to the Cannes 2009 Short Film Corner,” said Craig Whitney, the writer and director of the film. “This film is the product of a lot of hard work by a tremendous and very dedicated team of filmmakers, and producer Stephanie Huettner and I are looking forward to making the trip to Cannes on their behalf.”

The Short Film Corner will take place in Cannes, France during the Cannes Film Festival from May 13-22, 2009. Last year’s short film corner featured works by filmmakers from more than 80 countries, including works featured in the Official Competition, the Cinéfondation, the Director's Fortnight, and Critic's Week. The Short Film Corner also features thematic programs organized by partners including Canal +, as well as competitions sponsored by the National Film Board of Canada and other groups.

Whitney says that in making Harvest Home, he was intrigued by the possibility of exploring the life of a character that is usually not seen onscreen.

“Mrs. Kern is a person who has always found meaning in her life from the people around her, especially from her husband and children,” Whitney said. “While she was busy caring for her husband and raising their children, the world has passed her by, and without their presence, her life has lost much of its meaning and richness.”

“What interests me about this story is how tragic and yet how banal Mrs. Kern’s situation is, and the contrast between Mrs. Kern’s reappraisal of her life and cable repairman’s reaction when confronted with her attempts to connect with him. In a way, it reminds me of how most of us react to seeing a traffic accident on the way home from work. It’s an event that is so commonplace that we barely even take notice of it, and yet somewhere inside all that wreckage is someone’s father, or wife, or sibling. It’s an interesting dichotomy that what, for a few people, is profoundly tragic and life-altering event is, for most of us, just a mild curiosity or brief inconvenience.”

In addition to his own films, Whitney has worked with Nick Robinson on his 2007 short film, I Am Nick Robinson, which was featured at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and more recently, with writer/director Terrence Malick on his upcoming feature, The Tree of Life. In addition to his film work, Whitney is also an active participant in the Austin theater community. Last year, he directed a production of Don Corr’s play, Stewardess, as a part of the Hyde Park Theatre’s Frontera Fest 2008.

About Better Archangel Pictures
Better Archangel Pictures was founded in 2008 in Austin, Texas by writer and director Craig Whitney. For more information about Better Archangel Pictures, please email betterarchangel@gmail.com, or visit us online at betterarchangel.wordpress.com.

More on Harvest Home at Cannes:
http://www.shortfilmcorner.com/sfcfilm/filmfiche.Aspx?id=12038539