Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
Film Director and Producer
Synopsis of the feature film "Daddy":
"When he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, a troubled teenager changes his ways and tries passionately to prepare for fatherhood, but he has an extremely hard time to cope with the unexpected and shocking challenge he is facing…."
Daddy is a feature film produced, directed and Edited by Mahmoud Shoolizadeh, that has participated in several international film festivals and has won several awards. Although the film is based in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, USA, it was filmed in St. Mary's, Georgia as well as in Jacksonville. Several local and national newspapers have published articles and discussed this film in detail.
Director's view:
"I have always been looking for interesting stories to tell through my films, When I came to the USA a few years ago, I heard that Teenagers pregnancies in the USA is higher than the other developed countries. I wanted to show that in the film, though in an interesting and unique way. In order to break the cliche, I chose the young teenagers aged 14 and showed the love of father towards the baby. So, with the help of the co-writer, Dena McKinnon, we tried to write the screenplay for shooting.
Filmmaking is very expensive. Although it seemed at first that I was limited in choosing my cast and crew, all of them did a huge job to make this film happen. The number of nominations and awards so far is a real proof.
Although the teens have not played as lead roles before in any feature films, they both could show their talents very well and the result was very good at the end. I am happy that these two teens are nominated for their acting in some film festivals so far and the lead teenager actor 14, who played Daddy, got the Best Lead Actor at "Brasov International Film Festival" in Romania, 2015. Also the lead actress 14, who played Sarah, got the Best Lead Actress at " Tampa Bay Underground International Film Festival" in Tampa, Florida, USA, 2015.
The first person seeing the film is the director seeing it in his mind. As the director, I was working specially with the teens to create the feelings that I needed in the film, The film has been nominated for 8 awards in different categories in Romania and got the best lead actor and also, received 6 awards out of 11 nomination in the "Global Independent Film Awards" in USA, Aug 2015.
"Daddy" has been officially accepted to 30 International Film Festivals and has received 41 Awards and Nominations so far.
I am happy with all the challenges I had, we had a very good result."
Cast and Crew:
Directed and Edited by: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
Screenplay written by: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh and Dena Marie McKinnon
Based on the Story Written by: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
Production Designer: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
1st Assistant Director: Rozina Behrooz
Cinematographer: Bernardo Santana
DP assistant: Orlando Jarquin
Gaffers: Chris Kelly, Roberto Villalobos
Sound Recordist: Jared Boss P Person
Original Music Composer: Georg Palousis
Classical Vocalist: Vamptessa Debbie
Executive Producer: Rozina Behrooz
Video & Still photographer: Ramana Murthy
French Subtitle: Sophie Behrouz Schollaert
Duration: 60 minutes, USA, 2015
Producer: Mahmoud Shoolizadeh
Cast: Ian Doherty, Alyssa Marchalletta, Kenny Logsdon, Karen Overstreet, Barbara Van Fleet, Victor Jones, Crystal Glass, Kimberly Doherty, Ryan Murray, Breezy Sharp, Jorgia McAfee, Holly Marie, Luis Costa Jr., Mychal Wayne, Alvine Farmer, Robbie Parrish, Stevie Conway, Paul Piner, Juli Ann Dinneweth, Chad Light, Leanne M. Norton Parris, Chad Michael Posey, Lanny Smith, Aparna Murthy, Debbie Yates Cato, Miso Agogo, Isabella Torres, Jado Solomon, Madalyn Starratt.
More information available at:
Here is the Official Trailer of the feature film "Daddy":
The Official Poster of the feature film "Daddy"
The Official Poster of the feature film "Daddy"
