LAFF '07 | At the "Joshua" Centerpiece

Fox Searchlight hosted a small after-party for George Ratliff's "Joshua," which screened as a Centerpiece premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival Tuesday evening. The film, starring Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga and newcomer Jacob Kogan is a psychological thriller in which young Joshua (Kogan) devises the perfect plan to annihilate his young successful parents. Though there were good heapings of gasps from the audience during the screening, burst-out-loud laughter also could be heard throughout the cinema. "We felt like there's an anxiety between nervousness and laughter that we wanted to mine," said Ratliff (who co-wrote with David Gilbert) during a post-screening Q&A. "When my first son was born, I knew he was a good kid, but I couldn't help but think how scary it would be if you just had a bad kid for no reason." Kogan, who turned 11 when the film began shooting last year, said he saw another bad kid in a film which gave him inspiration for "Joshua." "A few weeks before the shoot, I saw 'The Good Son' with Macaulay Culkin. Both [characters] are very similar..." Pictured with Kogan is a playful Sam Rockwell as well as Ratliff and Fox Searchlight chief Peter Rice (far right) in LA's Westwood neighborhood.