Local filmmakers find way to The Method Fest
By John Loesing newstip@theacorn.com

AUTEUR- Rita Rani, middle, directs her first film, "Bombay Skies," an autobiographical feature which she wrote, directed and starred in. Rani's film will be screened at The Method Fest in Calabasas.

Rita Rani grew up in Calabasas, but traveled to the other side of the world and back to make her first movie.

Rani, a UCLA performing arts graduate, moved to Bombay, India, to begin her career as an actress. She worked in theater and commercials while continuing to train as a classical Indian dancer.

In 2006 Rani completed production on her first film, the autobiographical "Bombay Skies," which won best short film by Filmmaker Interviews magazine, among other recognition.

Rani is an actress, writer and director for the movie. She'll have a homecoming of sorts when her film makes its West Coast debut at this week's The Method Fest. The film screens as part of a shorts program beginning at noon, April 1 at Louis B. Mayer Theater in Calabasas.

"This idea started as a small thought while I was stuck in the middle of the monsoons in Bombay," Rani said. "I moved back to Calabasas to continue to focus on my acting career, and I realized one more path I must take in order to come full circle in my journey as an artist. I decided to go to film school and learn how to tell stories cinematically."

In the movie, American-born Anjali (Rita Rani) runs off to Bombay with dreams of becoming a "Bollywood" movie star.

Anjali's father goes after her vowing to bring her back, but when a little boy takes him on a journey through the streets of the crowded Indian city in search of his daughter, he ends up reviving memories from the past, reencountering a dream long lost and falling in love with the city he once called home.

Rani said the story is about a young person going out into the world for the first time to pursue their childhood dream.

"My life is encompassed by my love for stories," Rani said.

Rani isn't the only local filmmaker whose work will be shown at The Method Fest.

Corey Wish and Michael Breines of Agoura Hills produced "Matters of Life and Death," which will play at 11:30 a.m. Sat., March 31 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund theater.

"Matters of Life and Death" is about a young boy whose parents died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and how he and his siblings deal with their loss. Many of the scenes were shot at Chumash Park and Agoura High School in Agoura Hills. The movie stars Joseph Mazzello from "Jurassic Park" and David Strathairn, the Academy Award-nominated actor from "Good Night and Good Luck."

Wish went to UCLA film school and Breines to USC.