2008 THEATRICAL RELEASE SCHEDULE -THE HOUSE OF ADAM

NEW YORK-CLEARVIEW'S CHELSEA CINEMAS - AUGUST 22
260 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

LOS ANGELES- LAEMMLE SUNSET 5 (TBA)

PHOTOS FOR PRESS

LOGLINE

The murder of a small town gay recluse by religious fanatics forces his lover, a closeted divorced police detective, to come to terms with his loss and and find the remains of his former lover.

SYNOPSIS

This is the newest, most dramatic and most thought-provoking cinematic thriller from Jorge Ameer, director of "The Singing Forest" & "Contadora is for lovers". This intensely emotional supernatural tale revolves around Adam, a congenial recluse living quietly in a small town, who is brutally murdered by a trio of religious fanatics. His lover, a closeted police detective, is forced to live with the guilt and sorrow of having kept his now-deceased lover isolated and hidden from view within their cozy but isolated cabin. Concerned about the reaction of his colleagues within the police force, he keeps his lifestyle a secret, suppressing any real insights into his inner core. One day, ironically, he becomes the victim of his own double-sided values. The results evolve into a tragic and traumatic ordeal for Anthony as he's forced, as part of a murder that he's charged with unraveling, to unearth the bodily remains of the victim (his former lover) as the first step in solving the mystery. Things turn scary when Adam's spirit remains within the cabin as a vital and sometimes visible force. Unfulfilled and unsatisfied, the spirit lingers uncomfortably between the living and the dead, making appearances to a newlywed couple that now lives where Adam did. The now-traumatized Anthony attempts to solve the mystery of who committed the murder. Only a proper burial can give closure to Adam's spirit as it haunts the cabin. Complicating matters is the fact that shortly after the murder, the cabin is sold to an innocent and now-terrified newlywed couple. Watch the trailer of this film at the distributor's website. The Singing Forest & Contadora is for Lovers are both available now on home video. More info www.hollywoodindependents.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

This story is based on a true story. The true story details the grim relationship between a college student from Kentucky and a police officer. The story in this film has been changed to protect the individuals who are left to deal with this crime. The College student's throat is cut and he's left to bleed to death. Four days later, a curious neighbor, who originally thought the student was passed out from a drunken night, noticed the body laying pass a reasonable time. As she gets closer look several days later, she realizes the pass out person is now a decomposing corpse.

The core of "The House of Adam" is deep rooted within a very small mountain town where three religious fanatics interpret literally by their own definition the message in the Bible. Many people live by the words written in the Bible. But what happens when those words are misinterpreted to fit one's own prejudices? This motion picture is the product of the actions taken with three religious fanatics decide to take divine law of the lord into their own hands. Very early in the film, we realize that we, as bodies of energy, don't end when our physical shells are destroyed. The earth records our energy and history just like cam corders record joyous images of happier times.

Brett, David and Roger represent three normal young adults who seem "proper" and courteous on the outside but they had a deep seeded hate based on what is instilled to them from the same community who holds them in high regard. They are the type of individuals who would be exemplary students at school, would be very involved in the community, would take care of the elderly and handle themselves as they are expected by both their church and their community.

However, the actions of intolerant religious teachings also plays a part in brain washing these same youth into believing that their thoughts and actions that are well rooted in hatred and acts of violence toward others not like them are justified because the moral stance of their community. Ghostly apparitions are not uncommon in situations where the untimely destruction of a physical being is realized. It has been documented the spirit may wonder specially when there's no closure to their demise.

 

THE REAL STORY THAT INSPIRED THE MAKING OF THIS FILM

Suspicion Surrounds Death Of Kentucky Student

The mother of a murdered college student from Boyle County says her son was
harrassed by a Columbia, Missouri, police officer weeks before his murder.
23-year-old Jesse Valencia was found with his throat slashed last weekend in
Columbia, where he was a student at the University of Missouri.
There are reports that the victim's sexuality may have played a factor in
this case. A Columbia police officer is on paid leave because he had a
quote "personal relationship" with Valencia.
The Columbia police chief says the officer knew Valencia on a personal
level. 27 NEWSFIRST has learned the same officer also arrested Valencia
back in April.
Valencia's mother tells 27 NEWSFIRST her son complained that the officer was
harassing him for weeks before his death.
Valencia was found between two buildings near his Columbia apartment with
his throat slashed.

Valencia was last seen about 3:30 am the day of the murder, leaving a party
in a campus neighborhood. Two detectives working on the case spoke to
patrons of the SoCo Club Monday night prior to a benefit show for an annual
gay pride event. They distributed photos of Valencia and sought information
from anyone who might have known or seen him.

Asked whether Valencia might have been attacked because of sexual
orientation, Capt. Mike Martin said, "There's been nothing to indicate this
was a hate crime."

A Columbia newspaper reports Valencia and the officer were in a
relationship, but officials with the police department say the officer in
question is not a suspect in the case.

27 NEWSFIRST has learned police have been questioning people in the gay and
lesbian community in connection to Valencia's murder.

Valencia's mother tells 27 NEWSFIRST her son did have some confusion about
his sexuality. She says she's not sure if her son was gay, but adds
regardless of his sexuality her son was still vicously murdered.

Ryan Kepner, a resident of the building where Valencia had a basement
apartment, said he heard bumping noises coming from the apartment early
Saturday.

He said he heard Valencia repeating "Stop it" and "No" for about five
minutes, between 3:30 and 4 a.m. "The impression I got was that he was
trying to kick somebody out of the apartment that didn't want to go,"
Kepner said. "After a while, I yelled back at the wall, saying, 'Yeah, stop
it,' because I couldn't get to sleep. Then it was over. The noise stopped."

The family is expected to head to Columbia this weekend to look for answers.
Visitation for Jesse Valencia is Thursday evening in Perryville. The funeral
is Friday.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Murder in Missouri: a year ago a say college student with big dreams fell victim to his secret policeman lover. How one man's closet destroyed two lives and left a community in shock

The Advocate- July 5, 2005  by Mike Wells

Once free, Jesse Valencia intended never to return to his fire-and-brimstone
hometown in the hills of Boyle County, Ky., for more than brief family
visits. Being gay, vocally liberal, and nonreligious constituted three
kinds of blasphemy in central Kentucky. But he just couldn't stay quiet
about it.

The first chance he got, he bolted to college--first to Ohio, then
Missouri--where he easily made friends and attracted admirers of both
sexes. Away from a family troubled by too little money and too many
addictions, Valencia reinvented himself through embellished stories and a
persona built upon grand possibilities. "He always felt pretty lost, not
sure of where he wanted to study or where he wanted to go," says Erin
Shepherd, a high school friend.

Valencia never did move back to Boyle County, but on June 5, 2004, he was
buried in those Kentucky hills, having been brutally murdered by his secret
lover--a married police officer who worked for the town of Columbia, Mo.,
the tiny mid-state home to the University of Missouri. Valencia now lies
within walking distance of his mother's house outside Perryville, Ky.

"I miss Jesse, like it happened only yesterday," says his mother, Linda
Valencia. "I never fully realized how gay people were affected by the way
people in society act towards them. It never made me think about how
painful it must be to have to hide your sexuality--until now."
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On May 21 a Columbia jury convicted Steven Rios of first-degree murder,
condemning him to a mandatory life sentence. The jurors also found him
guilty of armed criminal action. (Sentencing for that charge was scheduled
for July 5.) Special prosecutor Morley Swingle emphasized to jurors that
Rios's DNA was found under Valencia's finger-nails and that his arm hairs
were left on Valencia's shaved chest.

The knife used to slit his throat was never recovered.

"I have no sympathy for Steven Rios," adds Linda Valencia. "I am glad that
he got life without parole and 10 years. I hope every day that he is in
prison he sits and thinks about what he did to my baby. I hope he dreams
about it. I hope he suffers. And then when he dies and he has to meet God,
I hope God will judge him even more harshly than the jury did."

How did a student with an angelic face and a sexy, devilish grin die at the
end of a tawdry affair with a married man? "Jesse was excited at first, but
he reached the point where he wanted to end the relationship," prosecutor
Swingle told jurors. "This defendant used his badge for sex and his knife
to forever close the mouth of his victim."

When he left home, Valencia took on the role of a person of means. He was
unhindered by something as insignificant as the truth, seeking credibility
among privileged friends with his stories about trips to Greece and a
family-owned stable of horses. He led them to believe that he came from
money but also that money didn't really matter to him. His Peter Pan charm
allowed him to get away with it. When a friend caught him in a grandiose
fabrication, Valencia would just repeat the story the next day to the same
friend who knew it wasn't true. He even lied about his age--23--trimming
off a couple of years because he hated the idea of growing older.

"He talked about places like Greece and Israel as if he'd been there," says
former boyfriend Jack Barry. Valencia needed those fables because his real
story didn't make sense to him. He could name every constellation, discuss
physics, and recite ancient Greek tragedies. He debated politics, wore
too-tight T-shirts, and styled his big brown hair like a glam rock star.
These were not supposed to be the interests and trappings of a gravel-road
Kentucky boy.

For that matter, he wrote letters to newspaper editors about political
issues, attended anti-Bush rallies during the presidential campaign, and
taped jokes about Ann Coulter on the front door of his apartment. He wanted
to attend law school, joking to friends that he might become the nation's
first openly gay president.

Six weeks before Valencia's death, Rios, 28, was the cop who responded to a
complaint about a loud party in Columbia's East Campus neighborhood. Rios
arrested Valencia that night and was evidently smitten. A sexual
relationship began almost immediately--even though the older man lied about
his real name. It continued even though Rios repeatedly came by the
student's basement apartment late at night, always unannounced and always
expecting quick satisfaction, and even though Valencia continued to pursue
other potential boyfriends.

Their late-night trysts had to remain a secret, Rios told his lover. But
Valencia immediately told several friends about the bizarre new
relationship and soon talked to them about confronting his new sexual
partner over whether he was married.

Hours before his death on June 5, 2004, Valencia ended a Friday night shift
as a desk clerk at the cut-rate Campus Inn motel and walked home to change
clothes for a friend's party. Valencia's latest potential romantic
interest, Ed McDevitt, was also at the party. They'd met the night before
at the city's gay dance bar, the SoCo Club, and left together for
Valencia's bed.

McDevitt seemed a bright spot in a period of personal darkness for Valencia,
who told friends earlier that day he hoped the simple hookup might turn into
a relationship.

Months earlier Valencia and longtime boyfriend Barry had parted, very much
against Valencia's wishes. To fill the void he took on a series of sex
partners, sometimes dating more than one man at a time-something his
friends say was out of character but which seemed to be his way of coping
with loneliness.

More than once Valencia met men online in Columbia's chat room on Gay.com
and invited them back to the motel where he worked. Loneliness wasn't the
only problem he was attempting to gloss over: He couldn't pay his credit
card bills, was late on the rent, and never seemed to have enough money
even to buy dinner. He told a few friends that he was considering bustling
his way out of debt.

But it was the affair with Rios and the secrecy it required that weighed the
most on Valencia's mind, friends say. The two didn't seem to belong
together. Whereas Valencia looked and acted the part of an urban hipster,
Rios was more of a square. He kept his receding hairline of black fuzz
closely cropped, and his off-duty attire of Eddie Bauer sportswear
coordinated with his Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer.

Before his collision with Valencia, Rios seemed to have a lot going for him.
He had a pretty wife, a new baby boy, and a treasured job. He mentored
schoolchildren, served on the city's drug abuse advisory committee, and
worked off duty as an administrator for the Columbia Police Foundation. He
was Supercop.

But secretly, witnesses say, he was a sexual predator, a stalker. At least
three times before Rios met Valencia, he used his badge to attempt to
negotiate sexual favors. Two women he'd arrested, and another who was a
victim of domestic violence, were ready to testify at his trial that Rios
solicited them for sex while working on their cases. One said he came to
her house 30 to 35 times, sharing intimate sexual details and telling her
he wasn't married.

The happy husband was in reality a tightly wound coil, ready to snap. And
when Rios snapped, Valencia was his target.

An autopsy revealed that Valencia's killer choked him unconscious before
using a serrated knife to cut a jagged four-inch gash across his throat.
His body was abandoned in the grass between two apartment houses frequented
by students.

Lying faceup, Valencia's nearly nude body went undiscovered for nine hours
that hot summer Saturday until a neighbor, thinking the boy in the blue
shorts might be a partyer who had passed out the night before, walked over
to see if he could wake him--and saw the blood.

When police responded, Rios came along--hours before he was supposed to go
on duty. Knowing the department would figure out that he'd arrested
Valencia weeks earlier, he volunteered to identify the body and to maintain
security at the scene by standing outside the victim's apartment door.
Another officer at the scene, James Means, testified later that he sensed
something was wrong with Rios, his close friend, because he seemed overly
quiet and surly.

Within 24 hours, tipsters told detectives about Valencia's affair with a
police officer--although they did not know the man's real name. Police,
working to learn more, reached out to Columbia's gays and lesbians by
distributing informational flyers at the SoCo Club and at the June 2004
PrideFest event in Cosmo Park.

But their best lead came not from tipsters but from Rios himself.
 Two days after the murder, the officer placed himself under the microscope
by approaching detectives working the case. He wasn't the officer being
talked about in the CrimeStoppers tips referring to a policeman lover, he
said. But his lies about the affair fell apart when detectives presented
him with eye-witnesses. The victim's friends had not only seen Rios at
Valencia's apartment but one had been in the same room with Rios on one
occasion as he was having sex with Valencia.

But proof of the affair, no matter how sordid or suspicious, didn't prove
murder. With no eyewitnesses to the crime and no murder weapon, detectives
couldn't detain Rios.

The next afternoon, the Thursday after the killing, Rios answered his door
and turned away two newspaper reporters who came with questions about the
affair and the dead student. Panicked, he drove to Kansas City, Mo., in an
attempt to catch a flight to Alexandria, Va., where his father lives. After
he missed the plane Rios bought a shotgun. Then he phoned Columbia police
and told a detective, "I've done something bad." He threatened to end his
life. Making calls to police and to his family while driving back toward
Columbia, he attempted to say his goodbyes. Officers kept him talking until
he reached his in-laws' home in Columbia, where he was taken into protective
custody.
 The drama only escalated the next day. After seeing his police chief on the
evening news confirming that Rios was indeed the officer who'd had a
relationship with Valencia, Rios escaped the mental hospital where he was
supposed to be under close watch by climbing over a patio wall. He made his
way to the uppermost level of a five-story parking garage and for the next
two hours stood on the ledge. A crowd gathered and intervention experts
listened as he blamed the police chief, blamed the media, and said they
could all burn in hell.

He took off his gold police insignia ring, placed it on the ledge, and told
the officers trying to talk him down that they could melt it down. It had
become worthless to him. Then he gave up.

Months later, at Rios's trial, Swingle meticulously outlined for jurors the
early-morning hours surrounding the homicide, describing a scenario that
allowed Rios plenty of time to leave a gathering of officers on the garage
roof of the police department, kill Valencia, dump his body, and then
return home to his wife and baby, all within 45 minutes.

When Rios testified in his defense, he admitted to lying about the affair to
his wife, to his department, and to his friends. He elaborated about his
shame at having unprotected sex and about participating in a three-some
with Valencia and another gay college student. But when asked by public
defender Valerie Leftwich whether he killed Valencia, Rios responded with
just one word: "No."

In his cross-examination, Swingle asked Rios to clarify the fact that he
confessed to the affair only after being presented with witnesses to it.
 "So you admit then that you are willing to lie when it serves your
purpose?" Swingle asked. The defendant indicated under oath that the
description was accurate.

On May 21, when the judge read the jury's guilty verdict aloud, most of the
sobbing in the courtroom came not from Rios's supporters but from three
rows of Valencia's friends, who surrounded his mother. To reporters on the
courthouse steps after the verdict was announced, Linda Valencia described
Rios as an "evil, sadistic-looking person that looks like he crawled up
from hell."

"I hope that people will learn from my son's tragic death," says Linda
Valencia now. "That they will be very careful who they trust. I also hope
they will try and be more understanding about gay people and let them have
the same rights that everybody else does. They are God's children. I think
that none of us has a right to judge each other.

"I urge everyone to stay close to your loved ones. Jesse and I were always
close. We talked on the phone every day when he lived in another state.
Talk to your loved ones. Tell them you love them. Don't let rifts develop
between you and stay that way."

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI

Pop: 86,981 ('02)

Nickname: College Town, USA

Native son:

Country songwriter Brett James ("Drugs or Jesus")

Wells is a reporter at The Tampa Tribune in Florida.

 

THEMATIC ISSUES OF "THE HOUSE OF ADAM"

The theme of "The House of Adam" is deeply rooted within a small mountain town, some of whose fanatical residents attribute their own (fundamentalist) interpretation to specific phrases within the Bible.  Many people adhere to the teachings of the Bible.  But what happens when those teachings are misinterpreted to correspond to individual, and perhaps destructive, prejudices? 

Ghostly apparitions are not uncommon in situations where the untimely destruction of a physical being is realized. It has been documented that spirits sometimes remain “on location,” visible to the sensitized, fulfilling some unresolved aspect of their former incarnations. This seems particularly prevalent when there's no “closure” because of a violent and/or sudden death. Within THE HOUSE OF ADAM, the theory is subtly proposed that our psyches and souls, as bodies of energy, don't end when our physical shells are destroyed.  The earth keeps a record of both our energies and histories in ways that are equivalent to that of a camcorder that creates an image of the physical world as we know it.

In the film, the religious fanatics (Brett, David and Roger), are viewed as "proper," well-adjusted, and courteous. But they’re infused with a deep-seated hatred that’s derived from previous religious and social conditioning. Complicating the matter is their shared perception of what their small and inbred community expects from them as Christian, highly judgmental males.

Regrettably, the actions of the three murderers represent an intolerance and insensitivity that partially derives from the tacit approval of the community that instilled those misguided values in the first place.

As the film concludes, viewers are presented with new and perhaps novel new views about ghosts, their ability to linger in the memories of those left behind, and the potentiality for love, redemption, and reconciliation to the traumas of our pasts.

a Hollywood Independents production

CAST

ANTHONY John Shaw

ADAM Jared Cadwell

NINA Alexis Karriker

ALBERT ROSS Thomas Michael Kappler

HELEN Tifanny McFarland

MARK Reeve Howard

MONICA Joella Brown

BRETT Rex Davison

DAVID Ted Ryan

ROGER Scott Stepp

REAL ESTATE AGENT Jorge Ameer

JOANNE Marcelle Lee

JOGGER Torie Tyson

RESTAURANT GUEST Kyle Biethan

RESTAURANT GUEST Ross Rivera

RESTAURANT GUEST Angel Baca

RESTAURANT GUEST Jimmy Rojas

RESTAURANT GUEST Rafael Silva

RESTAURANT GUEST Brittany Fowler

RESTAURANT GUEST Jessica Guyette

RESTAURANT GUEST Rebekah Brenden

POLICE DETECTIVE Felipe Munoz

CREW

director of photography JOSEPH WHITE

first AC RICH PEREKSTA

second AC JODY STARK

gaffer NICOLA MARSH

sound director BRET MICHEL

make up JOELLA BOWDEN

casting CHRIS GRIFFIN

casting assistant SHIRA INGRAM

casting facilities ED GOULD PLAZA

catering MURRY'S RESTAURANT/BAR

on location staff BIG BEAR FRONTIER

ROGER ABBOTT

DANIEL CARDIEL

CHRISTOPHER JACKSON

HEATHER METCALF

SHANNON PORTILLO

ZULMAN CAMPOS

ANGELICA CASTRO

MARIA HERNANDEZ

MARIA HERRERA

MARIA MARTINEZ

MARIA PACHECO

GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ

MARTHA RODRIGUEZ

ROSA URQUILLA

ARMANDO GONZALES

FELIPE MUNOZ

SERGIO RODRIGUEZ

CARLOS VALDEZ

SONIA PEDROSA

www.bigbearfrontiers.com

opening titles ADVANCED VIDEO

title graphics CHRIS GALLATIN

telecine NT VIDEO

motion picture colorist MILTON RIDGE

color by TECHNICOLOR

insurance COMPLEX CORPORATION

motion picture film EASTMAN KODAK CO.

digital/film transfers ASCENT MEDIA

ROBERT YOUNG

BEVERLY BROOKS

negative cutter DEBBIE McAFFEE

Laboratory services TECHNICOLOR

BRENT ELAM

website design GLENN KAUFMAN

still photography ALISTAIRE

composed music ILIA ESHKENAZY

additional songs BRENT J. DICKEY

courtesy of FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

film processing TECHNICOLOR

editor JOHN LAVIN

SONGS "Don't Let me in"

2 CENT PENNY

NALLE COLT

DAN RYAN

produced by ERIC KRETZ

Courtesy of 2CENT PENNY

"Records Play"

2 CENT PENNY

NALLE COLT

DAN RYAN

produced by ERIC KRETZ

Courtesy of 2CENT PENNY

"All I ever"

2 CENT PENNY

NALLE COLT

DAN RYAN

Courtesy of 2CENT PENNY

"Tired Legs"

2 CENT PENNY

NALLE COLT

DAN RYAN

Courtesy of 2CENT PENNY

info on 2CENT PENNY

www.2centpenny.com

"In My Life"

BRENT J. DICKEY

from the album "OVERBLIND"

Courtesy of

FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

Produced by ROB LAUFER

"Overblind"

BRENT J. DICKEY

from the album "OVERBLIND"

Courtesy of

FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

produced by ROB LAUFER

"Too drunk to Drive"

BRENT J. DICKEY

from the album "OVERBLIND"

Courtesy of

FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

"Caffeine Addiction"

BRENT J. DICKEY

from the album "OVERBLIND"

Courtesy of

FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

"Gay Mr. Tandy"

BRENT J. DICKEY

from the album "OVERBLIND"

Courtesy of

FACTORY OF OBSCURITY RECORDS

"O thou that tellest good tidings"

Aria (Contralto)

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

(1685-1759)

HELEN DONATH

ANNA REYNOLDS

STUART BURROWS

DONALD McINTYRE

Courtesy of GmbH International

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Karl Richter

"For unto us a child is born"

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

(1685-1759)

HELEN DONATH

ANNA REYNOLDS

STUART BURROWS

DONALD McINTYRE

Courtesy of GmbH International

London Philarmonic Orchestra

Karl Richter

SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE THROUGH

HOLLYWOOD INDEPENDENTS

www.hollywoodindependents.com

Paperback

photos provided by A.J. Productions

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HOLLYWOOD INDEPENDENTS & IN STORES SOON...

SPECIAL THANKS

John Polcari

Michael J. Schoel