2020 Best Of Covid Edition Film: the good boy

the good boy by A. L. Lee

New York 
Running Time: 15 minutes
From 2016
Drama

A morality tale, "the good boy" is a film about a young boxer who accepts a challenge to fight a brute of a man only to discover his opponent has the mental capacity of a five year old. This is an unflinching look at what happens when you feel honor bound to doing something you know is morally wrong. "the good boy" is about the decisions we make and living with their consequences.


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Director's Bio:

A. L. Lee received an MFA in screenwriting from Columbia University. Her screenplay "The Legend of Pig-Eye", which is an adaptation of the short story with the same title by Rick Bass, won the top prize in the Columbia University Screenwriting Awards.

She originally trained as a violinist at the Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory.

She live in New York City with her husband, two sons and two cats.




Director Statement

I'd been studying the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski (Double Life of Veronique, Dekalog, Blue, White Red) when I was writing "the good boy". Watching those masterpieces, you can't help but think about moral dilemmas. Why do people knowingly decide to do something that they know is morally wrong?

I started to watch my own actions and the actions of my friends. I realized that it's easy for most people to do the right thing if they believe they don't have much at stake. But it's just as easy for people to convince themselves that what's at stake is more than what they're willing to pay. Honor, loyalty, money, religion and even love are used on micro and global levels to justify our actions; even actions we know are morally abhorrent.

For Cal, the young boxer, what's at stake is his deal with Ray. "No losin', no forfeitin'." He feels honor bound to Ray. The stake for Quinny is more tragic because what he wants is the love and respect of his step-father and the patrons of their bar. I wanted to explore the consequence of a room full of people, one after another, deciding to do what they know is morally wrong and how they justify their decisions to themselves. 



Screenings:

DisOrient Film Festival
Eugene, Oregon
April 19, 2015
World Premiere
Best Cinematography

WorldFest Houston International Film Festival
Houston, TX
Gold Remi for Original Story

DC Asian Pacific Film Festival
DC
East Coast

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival
Brooklyn, NY
May 13, 2015
New York

Kaliber35 Munich International Film Festival
Munich, German
June 19, 2015
European Premiere

WILDsound Film Festival
Toronto, Canada
June 25, 2015
Canadian Premiere 

Best Film, Best Overall Acting, Best Cinematography
Periphery of the Empire
Caserta, Italy
July 24, 2015
Italy

Louisville's International Festivals of Film
Louisville, Kentucky
October 1, 2015

Commffest Global Community Film Festival
Toronto, Canada
September 23, 2015

Roma Creative Contest
Rome, Italy

First Glance Film Festival, Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
October 23, 2015

Visionaria Festival
Siena, Italy

TODOS SOMOS OTROS
Mexico City, Mexico
November 2, 2015
Mexico Premiere

SNOB Film Festival
Concord, NH
February 21, 2015

Fincortex
Colombia
December 1, 2015
South America

Sydney World Film Festival
Sydney, Australia
December 25, 2015

College Town Film Festival, 2015
College Town, PA
March 16, 2016

Film Festival of Castilla-la Mancha ® FECICAM
Castilla-la Mancha, Spain
March 1, 2016 
SPAIN

Ouchy Film Festival, 2016
Lausanne, Switzerland

OvertimeFilms 2016
Mexicali (Baja California) Mexico
March 17, 2016

Kansas City Film Festival
Kansas City, Missouri
April 14, 2016