Stand Clear of the Closing Doors: Sam Fleischner Interview

By Liza Bear


Sam Fleischner’s low-keyed but poignant drama Stand Clear of the Closing Doors won a Special  Mention for its premiere at the  2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Shot entirely in the Rockaways over a three-week period  with a cast and crew of only fifteen, the story is about  Ricky (Jesus Sanchez-Velez), a 13-year-old-boy on the autism spectrum  who elopes when his older sister Carla (Azul Zorrilla) doesn’t pick him up from school one day and rides the subway for an agonizing couple of days–until [the real]  Super Storm Sandy intervenes. Capturing  Ricky’s intense mode of perception through expert point-of view cinematography and editing, the narrative contrasts Ricky’s quiet concentration and growing resourcefulness as he learns to fend for himself with the emotional turmoil of his hard-working  mother Mariana (Andrea Suarez Paz); it also explores the effects of his elopement on the family dynamic. (They are undocumented Mexican immigrants.) An unusually muted color palette, as well as subtle changes of camera focus,  greatly enhance Fleischner’s portrayal of the special nature of autistic perception. Story: Rose Lichter-Marck; screenplay, Lichter-Marck and Micah Bloomberg.

 

Interview filmed and edited by Liza Bear; production stills courtesy Sam Fleischner.