First Winter
All Films
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Drama, Independent, 20-Jun-2025
During a winter of record-breaking cold, a blackout of apocalyptic proportions strands a group of Brooklynites in a remote country farmhouse. Benjamin Dickinson directs “First Winter,” a twenty-tens drama where yoga, free-spirits, and blurred romances implode on one another with the first sign of major conflict. Paul, a yoga instructor with long hair and a grizzly beard, leads the upstate rendezvous. It’s a bit unclear what relationship histories are shared between him and the others but drama finds a way to fester. Sex, drugs, and late nights of giggling quickly shift to pensive tantrum when a massive cloud of smoke is observed in the distance and the group loses power. Despite a growing chaos as food supplies dwindle and the temperature drops, Paul maintains his sexual pursuits and questionable leadership. Clinging to meditation and youthfulness, the group aims for survival and resolution. “First Winter,” released in 2012, exists attuned to the decade, depicting the specific twenty-something-year-olds of the era. Shot on 16mm film by Adam Newport-Berra (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Euphoria”), we’re left feeling just as trapped in the bluish-white hues of an east coast winter as the film’s characters. -JM. Written and directed by Benjamin Dickinson. Produced by Mark De Pace, Zachary Mortensen, Lindsay Burdge, Benjamin Dickinson. Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra. Cast: Paul Manza, Lindsay Burdge, Jennifer Kim, Samantha Jacober, Matthew Chastain, Kate Lyn Sheil, Jaffe Zinn, Haruka Hashimoto and Benjamin Dickinson.
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