Michael Dion
2021
Vacationland
Todd Verow
Brad Hallowell, Gregory J. Lucas
Filmmaker Todd Verow revisits his own youth for his latest work. The film's main character is Joe, who, like the director, grew up in Bangor in Maine. Joe, an 18 year old high school senior who longs to move away from poor white trash roots and this town, and dreams of attending art school, lives with his single mother and older sister Theresa on a notorious council estate called "Capehart Projects". Molested at the age of ten, Joe nevertheless decides to keep the incident to himself. He befriends an elderly disabled artist named Victor who hires him as houseboy/model. Joe moves in with Victor in his loft above the local opera house, hoping to escape Bangor with his help. He also works part time at a local market along with his sister, who wants to get out of town as much as he does. For most of high school, Joe has also had a crush on his best friend, Andrew, who plays on the high school football team.
Vacationland
Hooks to the Left
Todd Verow
Todd Verow, Gregory J. Lucas
Based on the journals of Nail, a male hustler who reentered the prostitution ring after 10 years in a relationship, Todd Verow's experimental documentary (shot entirely on a cell phone camera) examines the changing landscape of male prostitution. Nail's narrated journal entries accompany dreamy and abstract imagery shot all over the world. Verow also explores how the Internet has shaped the sex trade.
Hooks to the Left
