Grants & Awards

About the Film:

In the dead of winter, Gabriel, a 19-year-old brimming with electric energy, sets out on a mysterious quest. He is clearly searching for someone, but as he struggles to make his way through everyday interactions, it becomes clear that the simplest of tasks are near impossible for him. When he stumbles into New York City, the brutality of the city overwhelms him, as sights and sounds begin to pulse with an unusual energy. As he fights to continue his journey, it becomes clear that Gabriel is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, granted a release from his adult home to spend Christmas with his family. But he has other ideas. He has gone on the run to find Alice, the first girl that he ever kissed and the object of his obsession, the girl who he is convinced will solve all of his problems. But as he searches frantically for her, Gabriel’s idealized perception of the world is shattered by the harsh reality he is repeatedly confronted with, and a psychological dam bursts open. In a frantic rush of emotion, Gabriel makes one last attempt to get to Alice, a final journey that threatens everything and everyone that he holds dear.

About the Filmmakers:

Lou Howe (Writer/Director) is a native New Yorker and a recent graduate of the MFA Directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. He is currently developing his first feature film, Gabriel, which was recently awarded an Annenberg Feature Film Grant by the Sundance Institute. His AFI thesis film My First Claire is currently making the festival rounds and was recently named a National Finalist for the Student Academy Awards. Prior to AFI, Lou worked in various capacities in the independent film community in New York, including as a Story Analyst at Miramax Films and as a Director’s Assistant on several feature films. He also worked as the Assistant to producer Christine Vachon and Office Manager of Killer Films.  Lou graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Visual and Environmental Studies, with a focus on Film and Video. There he studied under Hal Hartley, and made several short films, including his undergraduate thesis, Well Fed and Comfortable, which screened internationally at several festivals.

Ben Howe (Producer) is an independent producer based in New York.  His films have won international awards, premiered at top film festivals including Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto, and secured international and domestic distribution.  Feature credits include Liza Johnson’s Return, Bradley Rust Gray’s The Exploding Girl, So Yong Kim’s Treeless Mountain, David Barker’s Daylight, and Matt Wolf’s Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. Upcoming projects include Patricia Benoit’s Stones in the Sun, Matt Wolf’s Teenage, Devin Lawrence’s Winter Wonderland, Mo Ogrodnik’s Deep Powder with Killer Films, and Daniel Mulloy’s A Cold Day with Focus Features.