The Guatemalan Handshake

The Guatemalan Handshake is a 2006 comedy-drama film, written and directed by Todd Rohal. It is Rohal's feature film debut. The film premiered at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival and won the Special Jury Prize.

The Guatemalan Handshake
Directed byTodd Rohal
Release date
2006
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States

Story

In the confusion following a massive power outage, an awkward demolition derby driver vanishes, setting in motion a series of events affecting his pregnant girlfriend, his helplessly car-less father, a pack of wild boy scouts, a lactose intolerant roller rink employee, an elderly woman in search of her lost dog, and his best friend – a ten-year-old girl named Turkeylegs.[1]

Pieces of the mystery begin to come together as Turkeylegs sets out to find her missing friend. Cars drive circles in the dirt, a woman attends her own funeral, the sun rises sideways and an orange vehicle trades hands again and again. Everything eventually culminates in a massive demolition derby that throws all of the characters into different directions.

Main cast
  • Katy Haywood — Turkeylegs
  • Ken Byrnes — Mr. Turnupseed
  • Will Oldham — Donald Turnupseed
  • Sheila Scullin — Sadie
  • Rich Schreiber — Stool
  • Kathleen Kennedy — Ethel Firecracker
  • Cory McAbee — Spank Williams

Significance

In 2006, Rohal was named one of Filmmaker's 25 New Faces of Independent Film on the strength of his debut feature, The Guatemalan Handshake, which had won Best Film at Slamdance earlier that year.[2]

The film won three prizes at the 2006 Torino Film Festival, including Best Director for Rohal. It shared the festival's Jury Special Prize with Honor of the Knights and the 2006 Holden award with Honor of the Knights and Zapiski putevogo obkhodchika.[3]

References
  1. "The Guatemalan Handshake", Variety, Jan 23, 2006
  2. "Todd Rohal, The Guatemalan Handshake", Filmmaker Magazine, June 8, 2007
  3. torinofilmfest.org 2006 Winner's List


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