Experiencing Interruptions?

I AM AN ALIEN

A conversation about life on Earth.

In 2014, I was able to organize a very special meeting between two of my favorite icons of independent filmmaking from the fringes of contemporary cinema, my friends, Mark Borchardt (the subject of "American Movie") and the late great Dennis Woodruff, who was an LA legend even when he was alive (Dennis passed away in late 2024). I was very inspired by the acclaimed film, My Dinner With Andre, and wanted to pay tribute to it in a truly unique way while also paying homage to my own punk rock roots of DIY transgressive filmmaking and folk art. The footage was put aside and then lost for years, but then finally it resurfaced, and allowed me to edit it in late 2024.

This now commemorated meeting was to be about everything that involved human life on Earth, with an emphasis on filmmaking and art. We filmed everything, and created a structure that who transcend both narrative storytelling and traditional documentary, yet somehow embody both media genres. Dennis shows us the way. He really does.

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Starring Mark Borchardt, Dennis Woodruff, Sophia Jade and Ramzi Abed.

Directed and Produced by Ramzi Abed

A conversation about life on Earth.

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Starring Mark Borchardt (American Movie, Modus Operandi), Dennis Woodruff (The Tom Green Show), Sophia Jade and Ramzi Abed.

Directed and Produced by Ramzi Abed

Original Music by Ken Cravens

  • Ramzi Abed
    Director
    The Devil's Muse, Telephone World, First Person Savior, Let Love In
  • Ramzi Abed
    Producer
    The Devil's Muse, Telephone World, First Person Savior
  • Mark Borchardt
    Key Cast
    American Movie, Coven, Modus Operandi, Cabin Fever 2
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 41 minutes 2 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 6, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    1,100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States, United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Cinema
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16x9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ramzi Abed

Ramzi Abed is a Palestinian-American film & video director, cinematographer, actor, performer and visual artist based on Planet Earth.

e has worked in & around the entertainment industry for over 25 years.

His film, The Devil's Muse (starring Kristen Kerr, Gidget Gein, Cinque Lee), streamed on Netflix for two years and was distributed by Cinetic Rights Management, Gunpowder and Sky, and Halo 8 Entertainment respectively in digital & home video formats. It is now streaming at TromaNow. His experimental reality-based thriller, Telephone World (starring Elissa Dowling), was released on home video by Cinema Epoch and is currently streaming on Tubi.
Ramzi recently directed the music video for "A Free Society", the title song from the debut album by Night Crickets, a jazzy post-punk supergroup comprised of David J Haskins (of Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) and Victor De Lorenzo (of Violent Femmes) and renowned musician, Darwin Meiners. Abed's film work has been distributed and also screened at numerous film festivals over the years. His short film, The Tunnel, was edited by renowned filmmaker, David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight), and starred co-writer Casey Wickson, Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), and Mark Borchardt (American Movie, Coven). The Super 16mm film went on to screen at many festivals all over the world.

Abed's latest feature films are First Person Savior and Let Love In. First Person Savior stars John Karyus (Foxfur, V/H/S/2), James Duval (Nowhere, Donnie Darko), Dawn Wirth, Erica Libonati and is about and inspired by gun violence and video games in modern America. Let Love In stars Victoria De Mare (The Beast Inside, The Rideshare Killer), Sophia Jade (Killer Looks) and Ramzi Abed (Muse, Samurai Cop 2), and is about overcoming shame and finding love within the world of adult films.

His paintings and photographs have been exhibited at Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, California.

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Director Statement

I really wanted to do something different, which to me is one of the most important things to do when making any kind of art. To push past boundaries, find new perspectives, and allow for open communication and collaboration if and whenever possible. This project was a way to bring both entertainment in its purest form, which comes from conversation and the idea that one person can inspire thought and laughter in another, sometimes at the same time. While tackling so many different socially relevant topics, I was able to place two almost polar opposites together in a self-interview type of setting or a tea time kind of afternoon. In many ways, this project, although it took 10 years to complete, is now more potent and fresh than ever.