The Producers
Vikram Zutshi has been working in Film and Television in Los Angeles for over a decade. After graduating from UCLA Film School, he began in the industry as Story Editor at 20th Century Fox where he worked on a number of dramatic feature films. From there he segued into Distribution and was later appointed Director of Development and Acquisitions at Babylon Burning Films. At BB he Produced two theatrical motion pictures as well as several other films, documentaries and syndicated TV Shows. Additionally, he is an avid photojournalist and freelance writer on socio-political and cultural issues. About two years ago Vikram commenced production on his own film as Director. Explosive cinema verite feature 'Max Kennedy and the American Dream', triggered by a decades long low intensity war on the U.S–Mexico border, is the result of that decision. The film had a sold out European Premiere at Visions Du Reel, Switzerland and will be doing the European/North American circuit in the coming months. Vikram currently resides in Los Angeles and is prepping his next feature 'Possession', which will be shot across Burma, Bali and Kerala, beginning late 2011.
Making The Film
"My film tells the tale of Max Kennedy, a Minuteman, modern day outlaw and anti-establishment dissident, whose life is tracked over a period of one year. It captures his gritty life on the vast, unforgiving U.S-Mexico Border and follows him through to his departure and return to civilization. We observe his initial seduction by the temptations of big city life and eventual disillusionment with the same. We are also present when personal tragedy hits and we witness his breakdown, epiphany and eventual 'homecoming'. This is a surreal exploration of the fractured and often contradictory psyche of a self-proclaimed revolutionary and rabid iconoclast, who simply refuses to fit into preconceived slots assigned to him by the mainstream media, academia or the political dichotomy of Liberal and Conservative. Woven into the main narrative and serving as a backdrop, are scores of fascinating characters on both sides of the divide, whose individual stories cast a penetrating light on the U.S-Mexico border issue, human trafficking, first-world poverty and right wing hate politics." - Vikram Zutshi
Max Kennedy is a Minuteman, one of the many American vigilantes who patrol the border with Mexico. Hunting down illegal immigrants, the Minutemen live a gritty existence in the desert. They do it from a belief that they are at the frontline of a war to save their country. Yet within Max lies a great conflict; a sympathy for the Mexicans, who he feels are destroying his country. Casting a penetrating light on the US-Mexico border issue, Max's story is a telling insight into human trafficking, first-world poverty and right-wing hate politics.
Official Selection, Vision du Reel, Nyon, 2011