C H A L K

Praise for CHALK

{Selected for International Competition}
Toronto*Locarno*San Francisco*Tokyo*Los Angeles A.F.I.

"... riveting, with intricate editing and striking lensing... balancing raw realism against a nocturnal, smoke-filled haze that verges on the surreal...gritty character studies developed with improvisational actor input a la Cassavetes... far from the coolnik stylizations of Jarmush, Tarantino and the current generation."

--Variety

"the best film about small-time pool hustlers since Jackie Gleason cued 'em up in 'The Hustler'...remarkable cast...exquisitely shot and edited production is an atmospheric triumph."

--Hollywood Reporter

"CHALK's characters are its greatest achievement...they have a depth and authenticity rarely seen on screen."

--MovieMaker- 'Toronto's Treats'

"Not encountered until now: therapeutic cinema! Impeccably edited...a sensitive & qualified voice from the world of losers and outcasts...halfway between improvisation and psychotherapy."

--Mariella Delfanti, Corriere Del Ticino, Italy

"...brilliantly photographed billiards duel between TC and Dorian James that's as exciting in its way as any multi-million dollar Hollywood car chase."

--S.F. Weekly

"... the honesty that [Nilsson] and scriptwriter Bajema bring to bear here in unflinching characterizations of marginalized misfits is something quite admirable and altogether rare in today's paint-by-the-numbers, audience tested and approved major theatrical releases."

--Sundance Online

"For the players it's the match of their lives. For the competition in Locarno CHALK is a cinematic power package like no other presented in this competition."

--Christoph Heim, Basler Zeitung, Switzerland

"If Nilsson seemed to go underground after his first film, Northern Lights (co-directed with John Hanson), won the Camera d'Or at Cannes and his blazing Heat and Sunlight nabbed the dramatic prize at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival, his return may signal that American movies are once again ready for passionate storytelling, unglamorous characters and emotional honesty."

--Michael Fox, San Francisco International Film Festival

"The fascination of CHALK lies in everything that happens around the exquisitely shot pool games. This film has blues in its blood... their talk, their jive, their fears make them all multidimensional projections of ourselves."

--Piers Handling, Toronto Intl. Film Festival

"A Locarno il Bellissimo CHALK!..From this secluded microcosm, Nilsson creates a powerful metaphor or map of society's litmus: A racial caldron, the taste of risk, violence, the ideology of success, the family institution in crisis.

--Morando Morandini, Il Giorno, Milan, Italy

"The collisions of the game find their echo on the faces of the people...the story culminates in a match where more than victory or defeat is at stake... one of the best contributions in the [Locarno] international competition."

--Thomas Allenbach, Der Bund, Switzerland/Germany

"The effect, that Nilsson has worked hard for with his actors from an acting workshop of former outcasts and drug-addicts, is authentically raw."

--Neue Zuricher Zeitung,, Switzerland

"some of the most realistic portrayals ever put on film."

--Ron Sheldon, People's Weekly World,Top 10