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Ballast

Directed by Lance Hammer

Release: 2008
Runtime: 96
Country: U.S.
Language: English

A double prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, Ballast is a stunningly evocative story of personal catastrophe and communal redemption.

In the cold winter light of the Mississippi Delta, three lonely people stumble under the weight of a shared tragedy.  Lawrence (Micheal J. Smith, Sr.) is paralyzed with grief after the loss of his twin brother.  Twelve-year-old James (Jimmyron Ross) drifts into the perilous orbit of local teenagers while his single mother, Marlee (Tarra Riggs), is too exhausted from her menial job to interpret the clues.  When sudden violence forces mother and son to flee their home in the night, they alight desperately on Lawrence’s property.  Though this provides safe harbor, it rekindles the fury of a bitter, longstanding conflict.  Writer-director Lance Hammer and his gifted cast of local, non-professional actors have created an unflinching, profoundly humane story of lost souls forced by circumstance to seek solace in the most unlikely of places.

AN ALLUVIAL FILM COMPANY PRODUCTION AND RELEASE
MICHEAL J. SMITH, SR., JIMMYRON ROSS, TARRA RIGGS, JOHNNY MCPHAIL
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: JEREL LEVANWAY  
COSTUME DESIGNER: CAROLINE ESELIN-SCHAEFFER  
PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER: SAM WATSON
SOUND DESIGNER & RE-RECORDING MIXER: KENT SPERLING  
SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR: JULIA SHIRAR  
DISTRIBUTION MARKETING: STEVEN RAPHAEL
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: ANDREW ADAMSON,  JOHN HAMMER,  MARK JOHNSON,  AIMEE SHIEH  
PRODUCERS: LANCE HAMMER,  NINA PARIKH
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LOL CRAWLEY  
WRITER-DIRECTOR-EDITOR: LANCE HAMMER

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Technical Info

  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  • Color: Color