At Festivals
18th Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2014 (Official Selection)
67th Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Court Métrage, Short Film Corner, 2014 (Official Selection)
18th LA Shorts Fest, 2014 (Official Selection)
7th Annual Lady Filmmakers Festival, 2014 (Best Actor Short - Cohen Holloway) (Official Selection)
Austin Film Festival, 2014 (Official Selection)
New Zealand Film Awards, 2014 (Nomination: Best Short Film Actor/Best Short Film Cinematography/Best Self-funded Short)
Madrid International Film Festival, 2015 (Official Selection)
Women’s International Film and Arts Festival, USA, 2015 (Best Short Film) (Offical Selection)
1st Veterans Film Festival, Australia, 2015 (Best Cinematography) (Official Selection)
Media
David Strong - Former soldier, turned film maker – David interviewed on RNZ, Nine to Noon programme.
“I know you’re going to do the most terrible thing tomorrow. But I have to play your game and pretend that I don’t know.”
Captain James Lesley is desperately struggling to give meaning to his United Nations' tour of duty, so he can leave Afghanistan believing that he’s achieved at least something, improved something. But in this land, being a hero has no meaning.
Overview
Isolated at night in mountainous Afghanistan and surrounded by militia, a young United Nations military advisor struggles to negotiate with a powerful warlord.
Inspired by true events this is a dark, serious, and high stakes story about a real subject – Afghanistan and the futility of Western efforts in trying to change it. It’s about the reality of life and death in its coarsest and most primitive form, being played at under the façade of friendship by seemingly reasonable men, knowing that in this hellish place, death is but a wrong-glance away.
Writer and director David Strong extensively researched life in Afghanistan and applied his personal military experiences as a peacekeeper to ensure this film is as authentic as it is powerful. He has been involved in a number of complex negotiations and conveys equal empathy with both Western and Afghani characters.
CAST
Cohen Holloway / Calvin Tuteao / John Landreth / Artemis Kavian Pour
CREW
DIRECTOR: David J Strong
WRITER: David J Strong
PRODUCER: Wanda Lepionka/David J Strong
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mathew Knight
EDITOR: Jeff Hurrell
IMDB: The Last Night
International recognition for ‘The Last Night’
Image Gallery
Director’s Notes
Shooting Style
The trauma, the surreal nature and the inescapability of the world that is contained within the bounds of Azeem, the warlord's hut and the mountains of Afghanistan surrounding it, provides the focus for the film’s imagery.
Lighting
Lighting is inspired by the Dutch Golden age painters, like Gerrit van Honthorst's Christ Before the High Priest. Like van Hornthorst, the film is lit by a single source oil lamp which evokes a feeling of intimacy while being exposed and enclosed by the Afghan militia lingering in the smoky shadows.