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9/10: Love Before the Fall

Opera and cinéma vérité combine with magical realism and mythology to tell the story of four souls dining at a bistro in Little Italy who are destined to perish the next day in the Twin Towers.

  • Daron Hagen
    Director
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Daron Hagen
    Composer
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Daron Hagen
    Writer
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Daron Hagen
    Editor
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Daron Hagen
    Producer
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Adrienne Shepherd
    Producer
  • Rudy Marcozzi
    Producer
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Robert Frankenberry
    Key Cast
    "Cory"
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Roger Zahab
    Key Cast
    "Charon"
    Orson Rehearsed
  • Gilda Lyons
    Key Cast
    "Trina"
  • CeCe Jude Hastreiter
    Key Cast
    "Bibi"
  • Carlos Jaquez Gonzalez
    Key Cast
    "Tony"
  • Barbara Grecki
    Key Cast
    "Lulu"
  • Cameron Dammann
    Key Cast
    "Orfeo"
  • Tyler Ono
    Sound Design
  • Haruka Motohashi
    Colorist
    The Terminal, American Meals, Back Home, About Jia
  • Talal Jabari
    Director of Photography
    Full Signal, Nail and the Uprising, zEnemies of the South
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Genres:
    Opera, Operafilm, Auteur, Musical, Cinemaopera
  • Runtime:
    58 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 25, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Paris Film Awards
    Paris
    France
    October 1, 2024
    2024
    Winner, Gold Award, Best Original Score; Winner, Best Indie Feature Film; Winner, Best Actress (Gilda Lyons)
  • Mindfield Film Festival Los Angeles
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Best Director (Diamond Award); Best of Fest (Diamond Award); Best Feature Film (Diamond Award); Best Original Score (Diamond Award)
  • Mindfield Film Festival Albuquerque
    Albuquerque
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner - Best Actress (Diamond Award); Winner - Best Editing (Platinum Award); Winner, Best Feature Film (Gold Ward); Winner, Best Director (Gold Award); Winner, Best Ensemble Cast (Silver Award); Winner, Best Original Score (Bronze Award)
  • Toronto Independent Film Festival of CIFT
    Toronto
    Canada
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Best Original Score in a Long Feature
  • Golden Lion International Film Festival (GLIFF)
    Kolkata
    India
    2023
    Best Experimental Feature Film
  • Swedish International Film Festival
    Hamngatan
    Sweden
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Festival Prize - Best Original Score
  • World Film Festival in Cannes
    Cannes
    France
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Best Ensemble Cast
  • Dubai International Cine Carnival Film Festival
    Dubai
    United Arab Emirates
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Film Score-Soundtrack
  • New York Movie Awards
    New York, NY
    United States
    Winner-Best Picture; Best Musical Score
  • AltFF Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    Winner, Best Cast & Best Director
  • Berlin Shorts Award
    Berlin
    Germany
    Semi-Finalist, Best Music Score
  • Tokyo International Cinema Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    Official Selection — — Best Feature, Best Composer
  • Playback International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    Nominee, Best Music & Best Symbolic Film
  • Athens International Monthly Film Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    May 27, 2024
    2024
    Winner, January Award, Best Original Score
  • Los Angeles Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Special Jury Award, Best Score
  • Chicago Indie Film Awards
    Chicago
    United States
    Best Composer
  • Chicago Filmmaker Awards
    Chicago
    United States
    Semi-Finalist, Best Original Score
  • Vancouver Independent Moviemaker Awards
    Vancouver
    Canada
    August 2023
    Semi-Finalist, Best Composing
  • Milan Gold Awards
    Milan
    Italy
    September 1, 2023
    2023
    Winner, September Gold Award, Best Film
  • Los Angeles Cinematography Awards
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Nominee, Best Director
  • London International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    Official Selection — Best Music Score
  • Voices Rising Film Festival
    New York, New York
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Honorable Mention, Feature Film & Best Film Score
  • Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Grand Jury Prize, Best Picture; Winner, Gold Award, Orson Welles Best Picture Award; Winner, Platinum Festival Award, Orson Welles Best Music Score
  • Bright International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Best Original Score
  • California Indies
    Los Anegeles, CA
    United States
    October 1, 2023
    16th Edition/October 2023
    Winner, Best Composer
  • LA Indies Fest
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    November 4, 2023
    November 2023
    Winner, Best Composer
  • Chicago Indie Film Awards
    Chicago, Illinois
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Chicago Indie Film Award, Best Original Score; Winner, September Award, Best Composer
  • Santa Monica International Filmmaker Awards
    Santa Monica
    United States
    Semi-Finalist — Best Short, Best Directing (Short), Best Actress in a Short
  • Sacramento Independent Film Festival
    Sacramento
    United States
    Semi-Finalist — Best Ensemble Cast, Best Feature, Best Musical Score
  • Culver City Film Festival
    Culver City
    United States
    December 5, 2023
    Official Selection
  • AltFF Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto, Ontario
    Canada
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Fall Award, Best Cast; Winner, Fall Award, Best Director; Nominee, Best Drama
  • Independent Shorts Awards
    Los Angelese, CA
    United States
    January 1, 2024
    2024
    2024 Winner, Platinum Award, Best Original Score
  • New York Movie Awards
    New York, New York
    United States
    August 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, August Award, Best Feature Film; Winner, August Award, Best Original Score
  • Lonely Wolf International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Honourable Mention, Best Musical Score; Nominee, Best Comedy or Musical; Nominee, Best Medium Length Film
  • Austin International Art Festival
    Austin, Texas
    United States
    January 1, 2024
    2024
    Best Actress (Gilda Lyons) in a Long Feature Film
  • 4th Dimension International Film Festival
    Bali
    Indonesia
    January 1, 2024
    2024
    Best Experimental Film; Best Narrative Feature
  • Tokyo International Short Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    February 1, 2024
    2024
    Winner, Best Film Score
  • Golden Lion International Film Festival
    Kolkata, West Bengal
    India
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Golden Lion Award, Best Experimental Feature Film
  • LA Independent Film Channel Festival
    Los Angeles, California
    United States
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Jury Prize, Bet Composer
  • Detroit Independent Film Festival
    Detroit, Michigan
    United States
    January 1, 2024
    2024
    Winner, Best Composer
  • Swedish Academy of Motion Picture Awards
    Stockholm
    Sweden
    December 31, 2023
    2023
    Winner, Honorable Mention, Best Film Score
Distribution Information
  • Filmhub
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Daron Hagen

Daron Hagen occupies a unique position in American music and independent cinema as both a highly-successful concert music and opera composer and as the auteur director of internationally-laurelled feature-length “operafilms” that combine his own music and screenplays, placing him on the vanguard of a new genre described by OperaWire as “a neo-Gesamtkunstwerk form of opera cinema where each and everything seen on the screen, from the cuts to the lighting to the pacing, reflect the internal motivations of the story.” His films are streaming on Amazon Plus Video, Tubi, Cineverse, Future Today, Reveel, among others, and have been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and the Bogliasco Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award, among others.

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Director Statement

OperaWire says, "The film can be seen as a neo-Gesamtkunstwerk form of operatic cinema where each and everything seen on the screen, from the cuts to the lighting to the pacing, reflect the internal motivations of the story," and I agree. We're going for something new here together that combines the emotional impact of cutting-edge live operatic performance with the psychological verisimilitude of gritty fourth wall-demolishing auteur filmmaking. Neither cinema nor opera, but film storyboarded, directed, and edited to the rhythm of the score by the composer themself, brought vividly to life by fiercely committed performers.