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I'll See You Around

"I’LL SEE YOU AROUND" EXPLORES A DAY IN THE LIFE OF LUCAS, A 30 YEAR-OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN, LIVING IN ITHACA, NEW YORK WHO IS TRYING TO FINISH HIS DEGREE AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE. AFTER DISCOVERING THAT HIS OLDER BROTHER, KENJI, WHO HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED FROM JAIL, MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR STEALING HIS LAPTOP TO BUY DRUGS, LUCAS EMBARKS ON AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY TO LEARN HOW TO COPE WITH BETRAYAL AND DANGEROUS BLOOD TIES. WE FOLLOW LUCAS AS HE NAVIGATES HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH HIS MOTHER, HIS CHILD’S MOTHER, AND HIS IVY LEAGUE GIRLFRIEND WHILE MOST IMPORTANTLY STRIVING TO BE A GOOD FATHER TO HIS DAUGHTER. WILL HE BE ABLE TO RECONCILE WITH THOSE HE LOVES OR WILL HIS TROUBLED PAST DESTROY HIS CHANCES?

  • Daniel Fermín Pfeffer
    Director
    While I Was Gone, CHOSEN, ELLE, One Sweet Night, Altagracia, Milk and Honey
  • Daniel Fermín Pfeffer
    Writer
    While I Was Gone, ELLE, Altagracia, Milk and Honey
  • Khaula Malik
    Producer
    How The Air Feels, Barren, Rosa's Esperanza
  • Alexandra Brown
    Producer
    Este Niño Lindo, Bob and Dale, Barren, While I Was Gone, ELLE, Altagracia
  • Lucas Monroe
    Key Cast
    "Lucas"
    While I Was Gone
  • Roger Guenveur Smith
    Key Cast
    "Dr. Michael Gomez"
    He Got Game, Do The Right Thing, American Gangster
  • Maria Wilson
    Key Cast
    "Mariah"
    Someone You Know Is in the Woods, Venefica, Things Break In, Happy Vacation
  • Darlene Monroe
    Key Cast
    "Darlene"
    While I Was Gone
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 22, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    80,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    SONY
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    August 2, 2019
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Efuru Flowers
    Sales Agent
    Country: United States
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
Director Biography - Daniel Fermín Pfeffer

Daniel Pfeffer is an award winning Mexican American filmmaker who grew up in Ithaca, New York. He attended Brooklyn College and NYU Tisch School of the Arts for Film and TV production. After earning his BFA, he went on to work in the film industry under various capacities. Daniel strives to use captivating narrative by creating socially conscious films, which speak to the human condition and to audiences worldwide. He received his MFA for Screenwriting and Directing from the graduate film program at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Daniel's first feature, "I’ll See You Around" is based off his latest short film "While I Was Gone" which screened at LA Film Festival, Dallas International Film
Festival, Flickers Rhode Island, Palm Springs Short Fest, and won the Domestic Student Award at Denver Film Festival. "I'll See You Around" had its world premiere in August of 2019 at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (produced by the Latino Film Institute) -- Pfeffer's feature debut was handpicked by Sundance programmer, Dilcia Barrera. Mr. Pfeffer's first directorial effort in genre, "Chosen" an independent minisodic pilot --premiered at the Catalyst Story Institute and Content Festival (formerly ITVFest) where the supernatural thriller won best cinematography and best actress. “Chosen” also screened at the 2019 Austin Film Festival and was a finalist for best ‘scripted digital series.’ His next feature script, “Brujería” blends his concerns with social justice and Daniel’s fascination for the genre of psychological horror films. It focuses on migrant farmworkers and the displacement and discrimination they and their families face in rural upstate New York. In August, “Brujería” became a second-round contender for the 2020 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. To this date, Daniel has taught undergrad film production at Columbia
University's School of the Arts, Tisch School of the Arts, Ithaca College, and Northwestern University.

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Director Statement

My creative vision for "I'll See You Around" developed out of a collaboration with my childhood friend, Lucas Monroe, a thirty-year old man living in Ithaca, NY, where his family fled after his father was murdered in Poughkeepsie. A few years ago, Lucas approached me about helping him write his memoir, which quickly transitioned into making a short film with him titled, "While I Was Gone." After the short's successful festival run at LA Film Festival, Dallas International, Flickers' Rhode Island, Denver Film Festival, and Palm Springs International ShortFest, we immediately decided to make a micro budget feature, and dove further into developing the storyline together. Sharing his personal life felt important and brave. I discovered that Lucas' story, and his natural talent on screen were a kind of hidden magnificence. He had so much to say about his past and yet constantly struggled with sharing his feelings. I was motivated to make this film for so many reasons, but most deeply because I want to build empathy. We worked together to create a dramatic narrative that uses incidents from his real life to convey his struggle to comes to terms with his father's murder, cope with his brother's addiction and incarceration, and learn to accept the responsibility of fatherhood.

The film is an intimate and mysterious portrait that probes specific incidents and relationships in his real life revealed with an improvised quality rarely seen. It became an opportunity to explore Lucas's story, and it gave him a platform to develop as an artist and to explore his psyche. We become intimately familiar with Lucas and his family in ways that challenge our notion and perception of race, family dynamics, empathy and forgiveness.