Martial Arts on the Screen

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 22, 2009

By Michael Janusonis

Journal Arts Writer

Brandon Luis Aponte, left, and David Lavallee Jr. come to blows in a final confrontation in Nathan Quattrini’s Sons of Lemuria debuting Thursday night at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket.

It may not exactly be Jackie Chan on screen Thursday night, April 23. But Warwick filmmaker Nathan A. Quattrini hopes it comes a little bit close when he presents the world premieres of his three short martial arts films at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, followed by martial arts demonstrations and a stunt fight on stage.

The 29-year-old self-taught filmmaker, who lived in Taiwan for a couple of years, combined his love of martial arts with moviemaking for the ambitious project.

“It started out as three two-minute short films that were going to demonstrate three different styles of martial arts action,” said the cheerfully easygoing Quattrini. One was going to feature David Lavallee Jr., another Brandon Luis Aponte, and the third Quattrini himself. “But it turned into three short films that took over two years to complete.”

In the end, Quattrini wound up directing, producing and cowriting the films, taking only a small role in one of them with Aponte and cowriter Lavallee as the stars.

The films run from 7½ to 22 minutes. Sons of Lemuria is set in ancient times, with swords and tunics and gauntlets and it looks impressive although it was shot mostly in modern-day Warwick. Five Minutes Flat is a do-or-die thriller with the hero racing the clock to save his life. American Chop Suey is a comedy in which a martial arts fan, who learned all his moves from Hong Kong kung fu movies on TV, sets out to get revenge after his DVD subscription is cancelled. In a case of art imitating life, Quattrini said that Lavallee, who stars in American Chop Suey, “got into kung fu by watching martial arts movies on TV, mimicking the action.” Quattrini first met Lavallee on the set of a student film for which Lavallee was doing the fight choreography.

The films go on screen beginning at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a Q&A with the audience, a demonstration of Wu Shu Kung Fu by a team from the Way of the Dragon martial arts school in East Providence and a comical stunt performance by the Stunt Players of America, as well as a raffle.

Tickets are $15 and $20 and may be purchased at the door, at stadiumtheatre.com or by calling (401) 762-4545. Those who bring a non-perishable food item for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank will receive a large character print from one of the films that they can have autographed.

Source:  Projo.com - Martial Arts Movies

Republished by: Dave Heuthe, American Kobe Jiu Jitsu Federation Black Belt & Certified Instructor. Dave provides group personal defense classes where lessons are taught in various locations, privately, at Bob Malvagno’s School of Self Defense, and through in-house work programs (e.g. -Fire Department, employer, churches & synagogues, community centers, etc.) in the Nassau County and Sufflok County, Long Island (LI), NY area. Dave’s business is to provide programs that help his students (adults, seniors, teens & children) master self defense. BECOME A CLASS MEMBER TODAY!

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