Local Expat Filmmaker To Screen Film in London

Local filmmaker Alexander Berberich will travel to London next month to screen his newest film at the 16th annual Raindance Film Festival, set for Oct. 1 to 12.

The film, “Bonne année,” follows the conversation of two criminals in the final hours of their lives and was filmed in a single week.

Berberich, a native of New York who has lived in the San José neighborhood of Barrio Amón for the past six years, said he filmed the movie in Argentina instead of Costa Rica because of the prohibitively small Tico film industry, but did the film’s postproduction in San José (TT, Sept. 17, 2007).

“It is an honor to be associated with and participating in the Raindance Film Festival for the fourth consecutive year,” Berberich said. “They have been extremely supportive of my style and technique.”

Two years ago, he screened a shorter version of “Bonne année” that he filmed in San José, which garnered enough support at the Raindance festival to allow him to expand the project. “Bonne année” stars Karen Young, a well-known stage actress who had a supporting part in the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

Berberich has filmed many shorts on the streets of San José and shot one movie, “Bella,” just south of Jacó, on the central Pacific coast. His shorts may be viewed at www.xber.org.