So Far All Good

There is something magnetic about how Ace wanders the streets of New York on the day he finally finishes his prison sentence. Though his girlfriend left him, the money is gone, and old friends are reluctant to help, from the first moments he tries to tune in to the jittery rhythm of the city, instinctively catch up with its changes, and reconnect with the local life. So Far All Good, the feature debut of versatile visual artist $ECK, follows this path closely, with the camera tightly glued to the silhouettes and faces making up the living tissue of the contemporary metropolis. The project, made with just $500, transforms its limitations into true-school value, and the tendency for improvisation, editing crackles, and audio distortions recall the vitality of New York's street culture. $ECK’s film is sometimes like a rap mixtape on cassette, sometimes chatty mumblecore cinema, and at other times it resembles the urban turmoil of the Safdie brothers (Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine is also featured at this year’s AFF). The young director mixes countless inspirations into a short but intense invitation to the world he views with a local’s eye attuned to authenticity.