USA – 2005 – 96 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY TODD ROHAL
“A generation-defining work about a generation marked by its very lack of definition” – Scott Foundas LA Weekly
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.
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 eventully culminates in a massive demolition derby that throws all of the characters into different directions.
DIRECTOR
Todd Rohal wrote and directed four short films before completing his first feature-length production of THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE. His short films, including KNUCKLEFACE JONES and HILLBILLY ROBOT, screened at SXSW, NY Underground, Hamptons, Slamdance, Athens, Long Island and Maryland film festivals. At 19 he was nominated for a Student Academy Award and is a recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation grant.
His films have also screened at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Baltimore Museum of Art and on AtomFilms.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Todd graduated from the Honors Tutorial Department of Ohio University with a BFA in Film, where he met most of the cast and crew who contributed to the production of THE GUATEMALAN HANDSHAKE.