Matthew Ausubor's first feature film to premiere in Oldenburg

Filmmaker Matthew Ausubor from Providence, Rhode Island, will bring his first feature film to the Oldenburg Film Festival.The film, a satirical crime comedy, will have its world premiere there.

Osubor wrote, directed and stars in the production.He plays a flower delivery driver who, while struggling with rent and mounting debt, discovers he is working for a powerful local crime boss.Those seemingly ordinary delivery tasks also have another purpose.

The film's official budget was only $2,000.No permits were issued for the filming, and the actors were not paid.Osubor calls it a truly independent production, and to be admitted to the Oldenburg Film Festival is a result that far exceeded his initial expectations.

The starting point for this film came from a chance encounter.Ausubor was in a grocery store helping a stranger, independent film director Alexander Rockwell, pick up fallen oranges.After a chat between the two, Ausubor was first offered the opportunity to work on the Rockwell set, which later developed into a relationship between students, producing partners and tenants.

Osubor once made a short film that was recognized by friends and family, but did not receive invitations to film festivals.Rockwell suggested that he consider film school, and also mentioned that New York University, Columbia University and other institutions could provide connections and systematic training.With his student loans and New York rent in mind, Osubor proposed making feature films as his own film school.

Student loans and living costs also enter the playbook.Osubor said the character's situation of paying rent and dealing with debt came from his feelings about financial stress.He wanted to use crime comedy and satire to discuss this lack of stability in life, so the flower delivery driver became the central character of the story.

Rockwell embraced the idea and backed the project with his wife, actress Karin Parsons.During the filming, Osubor lived in their home and did not have to pay rent.Rockwell also provided camera equipment that he did not have, and these conditions allowed the no-budget shoot to begin.

The crew made many exchanges for locations and resources.Ausubor recalls being allowed to film outside the house in exchange for helping to clean out the basement.Many shots, locations, and personnel were negotiated, and the production of the film relied almost entirely on the time and labor invested by the crew.

Rockwell related this approach to filmmaking to his early experience making independent films in New York.Ausubor treated it as a practical exercise, switching back and forth between writing, acting, filming and coordinating resources.He had completed the entire production process before the film premiered at the festival.

Ausubor himself also performed the action sequences in the film, including a scene running through a busy highway.After the filming, he said that he was not in a hurry to make a no-budget movie again and hoped that the next one would have even a small budget.The experience brought by his first film gave him more confidence to continue making films.

When the film premiered in Oldenburg there was no distributor or sales agent.Osubor hopes the festival will bring the next step forward for the work.For him, from an encounter in a grocery store to taking his first feature film to a film festival, it is a creative path that has been completely recorded in reports.