“The Lower Rooms” is the story of a curious teenage girl violated by a dangerous world. As Rosie (Jena SanCartier) tries to break from her single mother (Kelly Tallent) to find her voice in the world, she is at risk of losing her way. With her mother working all day, Rosie is secretly dating the older Benny (Kelly Lambert) and spending most of her days alone with her mother’s boyfriend Tenzin (Lobsang Tenzin). Tenzin, himself a Tibetan survivor of political torture is seeking his own rehabilitation. As Rosie becomes invasively curious about Tenzin, he tries to maintain his dignity in the face of Rosie’s dangerous game playing. Rosie comes under increasing sexual pressure as Benny gets trapped in a twisted cult. She seeks desperate refuge from Tenzin. The two, forced together by an unusual bond created by life’s atrocities, open to one another for survival and healing.
The award-winning drama by Eliza Anderson (Best Drama and Best Actor 2016 OIFF) is available for streaming on Vimeo on Demand by Sowelu Dramatic and The Narrative. The film marks the directorial debut of Nathan Wilson of The Narrative and co-director Barry Hunt of Sowelu Dramatic. This is the second feature for Barry Hunt following his award-winning and critically acclaimed debut on “The Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule in No-man’s Land.” “The Lower Rooms” cast includes Lobsang Tenzin (The Talk in the Night), Kelly Tallent (Anoosh of the Airwaves, The Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule) and the feature film debut of Jena SanCartier, Kelly Lambert and Ty McCallister.
“The Lower Rooms” is produced by Sowelu Dramatic and The Narrative, co-owned by Tyler Warren (DP) and Nathan Wilson. The film can be viewed HERE – The trailer HERE.
Artist Bio’s
Eliza Anderson’s (Writer) work has been performed nationally and abroad, and includes The New England Sonata, Mill Girls (winner of the 1999 Moss Hart Award), The Water Principle, The Lower Rooms, and That All of Us Should Be Fed. The recipient of numerous theatrical commissions and writing awards, Ms. Anderson has also received fellowships from the NEA/TCG, the Howard Foundation, the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, and Brown University. Residencies include the American Playwrights’ Exchange with the Royal Court Theatre, London; Playwright in Residence, A.S.K. Theatre Projects, Los Angeles; and NEA/TCG Playwright in Residence at Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Barry Hunt (Co-director) is the Artistic Director of Sowelu Theater in Portland, OR where, along with the Sowelu Ensemble, he developed new acting methods derived from his Meisner influence, his immersion into methods of physical theater born from the psychophysical work of Michael Chekhov through Robert Ravan and theater work born from modern dance including Viewpoints and Suzuki with The SITI Company. He has been an actor or director for 45 years with credits onstage, film and television. Mr. Hunt is the 2005 recipient of the Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship through the Portland Civic Theater Guild. Mr. Hunt trained in the Meisner Technique at the William Esper Studio in NYC as well as the Circle Repertory Theater Lab and Robert Ravan Studios. He has directed over 40 theater productions and two award recognized feature films including “The Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule in No-man’s Land” currently streaming on Amazon and Vimeo HERE.
Nathan Wilson (Co-director) is co-founder of The Narrative, a Portland, Oregon-based creative agency. As a writer, director, and DP, he has worked with multinational brands on numerous ad campaigns; as a documentarian working with the Lakota (Thunder for the People) to reclaim ancestral items from the Smithsonian Institute; and as a director, DP, and producer on multiple television pilots. He strives to tell humanist stories that create common ground between all walks of life. The Lower Rooms is his first feature film.
Tyler Warren (Director of Photography) is co-founder and president of The Narrative creative agency. As producer he has shepherded a multitude of commercial projects from conception through to delivery. Tyler also directs and DPs many commercial, documentary, and narrative pieces. The myriad challenges of producing heartfelt and engaging films are what shape the projects he makes, every one being infused with a passion and honesty that lend an air of authenticity that is often missing from professional work. From the horrific history of the natives of the Great Plains, to the latest football boot, to a small story of a troubled teenager and the torture victim she befriends, Tyler is always seeking out stories that go a little deeper. The Lower Rooms is his first feature film.
Lobsang Tenzin – (Tenzin) is an actor and filmmaker. His performance as Tenzin in The Lower Rooms won him a Best Actor award at the 2016 Oregon Independent Film Festival. Tenzin is the recipient of the Robert Redford Milagro Scholarship at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. He is the owner of Blue Yak Films.
Jen Sancartier – (Rosie) is making her feature film debut. A graduate of the Institute of Contemporary Performance and the Portland Actors Conservatory, her film and theater credits include Lost in Her Head, I’ll Be Looking at the Stars Too, The Glass Menagerie, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead and Opus 3: After Strindberg.
