First Aperture Grant Film, "Bus to Queens", to Screen Tonight

by Eugene Hernandez

Joshua Marston's short film, "Bus To Queens," will screen tonight in
Manhattan, marking the New York premiere for the filmmaker who was
the receipient of the first Aperture filmmaking grant. The film also
screened last month in Los Angeles. 489 screenplays were submitted
for the Aperture grant which includes $10,000 plus $1,000 worth of
Kodak film stock. The film is also a winner of the 1998 Warner
Brothers Film Award and the 1998 Martin Segal Film Award.

Inspired by an actual experience the filmmaker encountered while
traveling in Vietnam, "Bus to Queens," is the story of a young Russian
couple who are stranded in New Jersey and must rely on two Pakistani
men to get back home to Queens. The film takes place in three languages
Russian, English, and Punjabi. According to Marsden, the film was
created to "portray how immigrants are particularly subjected to
prejudicial treatment" and how "genuine misjudgements can lead to
fear and suspicion."

The short film is a calling card for Marston, who has just completed
MFA studies at NYU. The filmmaker told indieWIRE yesterday that
the project has "been very useful in gaining other people's interest
as I attempt to shop around my first feature script." Marston's next
project is a screenplay called "Grasslands." Marston described the
movie as the story of "a midwestern marijuana grower and his family
struggling to survive the drug war." He plans to direct the script as
a low-budget indie and is currently looking for financing, a producer,
and talent.

[For more information on the Aperture filmmaker grant,
call 310/772-8294.]

[The screening of "Bus to Queens"is tonight (April 30th) @ 7:00 p.m., with a reception prior to the screening at 6:30, film, at the Cantor Film Center at 36 East 8th St. (corner of University Pl.) The film runs 24 minutes.]