Conversations in Film: Script Reading of From Here to Nowhere

Austin Film Festival presents a reading of the original feature-length screenplay From Here to Nowhere, by critically acclaimed Film Writer/Director Ya’Ke Smith.  

February 8, 2009 | 7pm
Cap City Comedy Club
8210 Research Blvd | Austin, TX
This event is free and open to the public. 

Widely regarded as one of this generation’s next film directors to watch, Ya’Ke has made a name for himself as a filmmaker with a veracious style of storytelling that takes an unflinching look at issues facing today’s society.   

Ya’Ke made his first film at the age of 15, while a student at Sam Houston High School in his native San Antonio, TX and has yet to look back. His films have received world-wide acclaim, screening at The Cannes International Film Festival, The Pan African Film and Arts festival, The Sedicorto International Film Festival Forli and The Los Angeles Shorts Film Festival, to name a few.  

His short Hope’s War, was the recipient of the Director’s Guild of America Student Film Award, was officially selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival as part of Kodak's Emerging Filmmaker Showcase, broadcast nationally on Showtime Television's Black Filmmaker Showcase and was a finalist of BETJ’s The Best Shorts Film Competition. His latest film, The Second Coming, was nominated for a Student Academy Award and also won the HBO Short Film Award at the American Black Film Festival.  

Ya’Ke graduated with his Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin’s film program, where he now lectures. He is currently fundraising for his debut feature, From Here to Nowhere, which he plans to shoot in the summer of 2009.  He also recently participated in Austin Film Festival’s 2009 Writers Ranch, a residency screenwriters program designed to set the foundation for long term, successful careers.  

SYNOPSIS:When hurricane Katrina forced Ed to San Antonio, he reunites with his estranged mother, Dorothy, who abandoned him in New Orleans ten-years earlier. Ed struggles to find his place in San Antonio and often bumps heads with the locals. He is constantly baited by Black, the local drug lord, but is determined to steer clear of the life of drugs and crime that he was so heavily involved in back home. He sets out on a journey to re-invent himself, while attempting to get his singing career off the ground. On this journey, he meets Jay, an aspiring filmmaker and model student. Ed looks up to Jay, and he and his mother, Sarah, take him under their wings. But when Dorothy gets back on drugs and steals money from Black, Ed is forced to make a decision that may derail him off track.

From Here to Nowhere is a story about self-discovery, redemption and a search for one’s true self.   

Created in 2007 and sponsored by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences®, Conversations in Film is a year-round series of film seminars and script readings.  The seminars provide the public with the unique experience to meet and work with local and visiting filmmakers.