Cahaba
*Official Selection: George Lindsey Film Festival*
*Official Selection: Smoky Mountain Film Festival*
*Official Selection: The Indie Gathering*
*Official Selection: Best Independents International Film Festival*
*Official Selection: Azalea Film Festival*
An educated painter seeks inspiration from a talented youth on a chilly morning by the Cahaba river.
In the midst of an artistic drought, Tristan agrees to meet with a talented and unknown artist with the hope of being inspired and reminded of his love for painting. However, when this unknown artist arrives at their agreed meeting spot on the bank of the Cahaba River, he is not as he described himself: he is not an elderly man finally following his lifelong passion, but an eager teenager in need of a warmer coat.
Cahaba is a surreal slice of life that uses the biodiversity and pollution of the Cahaba River to explore the identities of two artists struggling with their own forms of pollution.
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Brett BlaylockDirector
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Donald Martin IIIKey Cast"Tristan"
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Jojo EliasKey Cast"Chris"
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Brett BlaylockWriter
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Hunter NicholsDirector of Photography
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Brett BlaylockProducer
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Donald Martin IIIProducer
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Hunter NicholsProducer
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Kenneth BauerComposer
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Jackie RobinsonMake-up Artist
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Summer SteeleAssistant Director
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Noah FinkSound Designer
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Frankie GalvezSound/Boom Operator
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Gyasi HowardGaffer
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Kyle Mackenzie SullivanAssistant Camera
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Laura JansenColorist
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Faith BrunerScript Supervisor
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:drama, surreal, southern, nature
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Runtime:9 minutes 53 seconds
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Completion Date:August 15, 2018
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Production Budget:10,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:1.66
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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The Indie GatheringHudson, OH
United States
August 10, 2019
Ohio Premiere
Official Selection -
Smoky Mountain Film FestivalGatlinburg, TN
United States
June 22, 2019
Tennessee Premiere
Official Selection / Best Actor Donald Martin III -
George Lindsey Film FestivalFlorence, AL
United States
March 2, 2019
North American Premiere
Official Selection -
Best Independents International Film FestivalKarlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg
Germany
December 21, 2018
World Premiere
Official Selection -
Azalea Film FestivalMobile, AL
United States
Gulf Coast Premiere
Official Selection
Brett Blaylock is an actor and filmmaker from Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from the University of Alabama Birmingham with a BA in Theatre, he spent some time performing with Birmingham Children’s Theatre and City Equity Theatre. After moving to Los Angeles, Brett studied at the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Margie Haber Studio, and wrote and produced six short films. CAHABA is his directorial debut.
CAHABA was originally envisioned as an honest and loving tribute to central Alabama; but, as I developed the story, it became more of a tattered post-card than an outright love letter. The characters in the story - including the Cahaba River itself - have immense potential that is being constrained by forces beyond their control, through literal and figurative pollution.
I left a lot of blank spaces in CAHABA; there are many missing narrative details. I always want to avoid unmotivated exposition and to focus on the characters and how they relate to one another. And, although the actors, crew, and I had a mutual understanding of the larger story, I wanted to engage the audience's imagination, curious how they might fill in those blank spaces, if they would fill them in at all. Finally, I hoped that, by leaving details out of the narrative, the audience would share with the characters the sense that something is missing.
My goal is to leave you with a hope that, regardless of where you are, you will find your way, even if that way is different than you envisioned.
- Brett Blaylock