"Tre" Is a Film for Women and Men who Understand Women

  I am doing radio and TV interviews tomorrow in San Francisco and I'm now thinking in sound bytes in order to prepare.  Just kidding.  But how do you like that title?  Lots of reviews came in today.  When I learned that film critic Dennis Harvey was reviewing Tre for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, I was glad because he had written a great review in Variety during our festival run.  I think I like his theatrical review even more, especially the last line which made me laugh out loud.  Like Dennis Harvey's review, Ben Hamamoto's piece in the Nichi Bei Times is insightful in ways that I hadn't thought of when writing or directing the film with regard to Tre's tactics and motivations.  I also like that he points out that Tre and Kakela are both hapa (mixed race Asian/Pacific Islander).  This review from Combustible Celluloid by Jeffrey Anderson praises the opening sequence and it's about time someone did!  It goes several minutes without dialogue but introduces all four characters (three of them partially nude) and the spacial/social dynamics between them.  I love it (=

Meanwhile, there's been a big drama about the 35 mm blow-up that has been so painful for me as an artist that I haven't been able to even share it with hardly anyone until now -- but now thankfully the ordeal is over!  To make a long story short, my film was entrusted to a disgruntled Post Production Supervisor who had some psychological issues (to say the least) and had a big grudge against Cinema Libre.  Rather than murder everyone at the studio, he decided to take out his frustrations on my film.  The 35 mm print he created was a disaster that would have destroyed years of work by myself and others who had donated or practically donated their time.  I was pulled away from the Obama campaign in late January to basically do the guy's job for him in a huge rush to beat the Feb. 1st deadline for theatrical release.  I worked 20 hour days for 2 weeks with a new team of qualified and well-intentioned professionals, but we couldn't do the work fast enough and the film opened on digital in Los Angeles and Chicago.  This was really disappointing for me, because digital projection in my view robs a film of its cinematic artistry, forcing the narrative to rely solely on the story, which is strong enough, but not the whole presentation for the films that I make.  But the good news is I can be really excited about tomorrow night because San Francisco will be the FIRST CITY in the world to see the film as it was intended to be seen, on 35 mm film. In fact, I will be seeing it for the first time on 35 mm myself on Friday night, because I'll be doing interviews all day prior to the 7:20 PM screening.  So if you're in the Bay Area, come out Friday night for a rare experience of seeing a film with a director who is seeing it for the first time.  Or, hope to see you at one of the other Q/A screenings listed below.

"TRE" a film by Eric Byler

4-Star Theatre (San Francisco)

2200 Clement St. @ 23rd Ave.

Showtimes:   Daily 1:40, 7:20

**Q&A's (w/ Eric Byler)

  Friday (Feb 15th) after the 7:20

  Saturday (Feb 16th) after the 7:20

  Sunday (Feb 17th) after the 1:40

  Admission: $8.50